Linked Past Mortality
by White.Demon.Feathers
Summary: Chapter 25: The Reunion you've been waiting for!
1. Enter the Second Girl in the Well

**So I know I shouldn't be putting out a new story, considering I'm not updating so much on my other… But here ya go! I wrote this months ago when a friend and I were rewatching Inuyasha on DVD. There's not much of a timeline for you to go off of. Since the anime/manga drags FOREVER, and all that jazz. Anyway, I would really like some feedback if you could. I want to know how this will sell. I'll post the first 2 chaps up so y'all get more than just the "standard" sample. **

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks. **

**Enter the Second Girl in the Well**

Kagome shrieked again at her mother for having to share a room that was no where as roomy and neat as a freakin' hotel room. She pointed to the black haired, purple eyed, lightly tanned, seventeen-year old girl sitting at her dinning table with a condescending, overconfident, and utterly evil smirk gracing full lips.

"She's family, Kagome" her mother answered – again.

"But why _my_ room? Why now? She didn't even give us any notice!" My cousin yelled – again.

"Of course my sister called us a week ago and told us she would be coming to visit. _You _just weren't here. And you never sit down and actually _talk_ to your family anymore." My aunt answered, her voice rising – again.

"She's going to cause me problems!"

"Kagome! Everything is not always about you!"

And then my other little cousin interrupted, "Just admit that ever since you fell down the magic well, that's all you've been thinking." Ah, Sota, such a cute little intruder. Probably got it from my side of the family – sort of.

"Sota! Don't say such silly things." Kagome smacked a hand over her brother's mouth while she glared ice daggers at me. What a drama queen.

"Calm down, Kagome." I said with a shrug as I turned the smirk down. "I'm not interested in your magic well."

Though her glare was still hard, I could feel her defenses shift. "Y-you're not?"

"No. I told you that I'm here to brush up on my Japanese during the summer." I looked away just to irritate her with nonchalance. She flinched. Point: Me.

"Did you get bored living in America or what?" Sota struggled and bit his sister, she cried out and for the moment I was invisible again. She was always so easy to manipulate. Not in an evil way, mind you. Don't get the wrong idea between Kagome and I, we don't hate each other. We've just always been polar opposites. We can never agree on anything. And I've always been able to get out of the finest of troubles.

I believe it is my God-given talent to lie with such ease. Now, again, I must remind you that I am not evil. I strictly use my powers for the greater good. If the greater good just so happens to involve my well-being and not Kagome's, then that's just the way of it.

Of course the worst of our disagreement is the fact that I don't believe in fate while Kagome does.

And worst still, she stopped believing in it and started agreeing with me.

We haven't been able to get along with each other since.

Now, while I spend the summer here in Japan and my parents take a three month long cruise I must suffer through the horrible fact that the two of us will be sharing a room and spend all of those three months together. Preferably not in that tiny room, somewhere else entirely; say, another time altogether, if you could.

The fact that her little brother mentioned a magic well is of no interest to me. None at all. Not in anyway, form, or fashion.

Nope, doesn't peak my curiosity one bit.

**EntertheSecondGirlintheWell**

"This is it?" I stare at the old well. The runes our grandpa put on it were torn and looked burned, but it was the only part of the stone well that appeared mysterious and wonderful. Really, it looked like an old, dried-up well. There was a ladder that led to the bottom that I could very-well see and the plants growing along the sides of it seemed reluctant to grow past the lip. Strange, but not exciting.

"I swear! It is magic." Kagome huffed at me. She had insisted, just as I had planned, that she'd show me the well. My nonchalance bothered her so much she claimed she'd prove to me that she was not making the whole thing up.

Of course I already knew she didn't make it up, even her fool-hearted brother believed in the well. He also mentioned some white-haired demon that could come out of it. Magic wells were one thing, demons were another altogether. And a boy like Sota did not just believe in magic and demons for no reason at all.

"If you say so, Kagome. Now can we please get some breakfast, this is not how I want to be spending my entire summer." I turned to leave her and, just as I knew she would, Kagome grabbed hold of my shoulder. What I did not expect was for her to throw the both of us down her stupid well! Kagome could past through it with no problems; Sota had explained it to me. But that did not mean that just because she was touching me I would be unharmed in this foolhardiness!

It took all the mental power I had not to scream – not to grab her neck and pull her under me. But the second before I knew the well's bottom could meet us, I felt the slightest breeze and watched as Kagome and I slowed our decent as if gravity decided it didn't want to squish us.

I sighed in relief and felt more than heard Kagome's smirk as she said, "See, magic." If I wasn't so happy of not being dead, I would have punched her first and asked questions later. But I was still in the well, Kagome got me here, what if she left me here too? Best not to anger the girl right now.

I pushed myself up, knocking Kagome clear off me and onto the ground, earning myself an "oof" of discomfort from her. Upset and irritate, I said nothing about.

"Okay, okay. So you controlled gravity for a second. It doesn't prove that we are where you say we are." I brush the dirt off my shirt and jeans. Even for summer I wear jeans, and layers. It's…simpler for me. So today, because I knew Kagome was an impatient child, I wore a loose dark-wash jean, a black tank top, and a button-down, three-quarter-sleeved over-shirt. Not to mention the light jacket I've got, today it's a lightweight that reaches close to mid-thigh. Don't leave home without a jacket, no matter what the weather's like.

And just as I anticipated, Kagome huffed, "We traveled back in time. I swear! Look, climb out of the well, we'll be in the middle ages of Japan." I shrug a shoulder, made sure nothing – _ahem_ – important had fallen off me and begin to climb up the well. There's no ladder on this side.

The sun is the first witness to Kagome's claim. Her well was in an abandoned shack in the back of her house. This one was in the middle of a clearing, surrounding by lush grass and bright sunlight and the bluest of blue skies. I perch myself on the lip and waited for Kagome to catch up. I didn't want to brag, but I know I'm a better athlete than she is.

Hell's Bells, I should be! What with what I do for a living and all…

Kagome pulled herself up to sit next to me. Huh, faster than I thought. Well, with her constant exposure to demons – as is my conclusion to all the facts I've been presented – it would make sense the girly girl gained some muscle. Or else she'd be dead, right?

She huffed and smirked at me, "See, ma-"

"Magic," I answer with her. Her smirk flickers but remains nonetheless.

"I thought you'd be more resilient, or something."

"How can I be when everything you said is true?" I spread a hand out at the grass and the sun and the sky, "The facts are all here."

Her smirk is blown away by a full-on grin. "So you believe that my well is magic and I travel through time on an everyday basis?"

I smile with no teeth, "Yeah, I believe you." I turn back to the sun and close my eyes to enjoy it.

"Great! Now let's go bac-"

"Hold up!" Quickly I jump off the well, not entirely forgetting her pushing me in. "You have to show me rural Japan before we go back." I can sense her arguments. "Come on, Kagome! It's not everyday that you get to time travel. Just show me what you do here. Introduce me to the natives."

"Why are you so eager to stay?"

"Oh come on! Like you weren't this excited when you first showed up here?" She hesitates. I can feel her warming up to me. "How about a day, just give me a day of your magic. One day, and we can go home." Something comes to her. Something that I know she thinks will get me to stop my persistent banter. It won't be pleasant; I can see it all over her face.

Then it's gone, just in the blink of an eye. If I hadn't focused so intently on her expression so suddenly, I would have missed it. I guess having demon friends made her a bit mischievous too. She smiles with no teeth, closing her eyes, pitching her voice higher. Well, Hell's Bells… What a deviant you've become Kagome.

"Okay, I'll introduce you to my friends." She bounces off the edge of the well, holding her hands behind her back. Did she not know that she did that when she was lying? Inwardly I frown; I don't know what she's lying about, but it won't be good for me.

"How about you wait here, and I'll go get them?"

My smile didn't move an inch. In fact, I let it grow because she let me stay like I wanted her to. "You're going to leave me here all by myself?"

"Don't worry, you'll be just fine." She rushes away, stumbling just slightly in her jittery haste. "I'll be right back! Just don't move from that spot!"

She waves at me when she gets to the trees and I wave back. "You better not leave me here!"

When she disappears, I fold my legs and sit with my back to the well to wait for whatever prank she thinks will crumble my resolve. There's a rock next to me, about the size of my hand, I turn it over and over to pass the time. Kagome isn't hard to read. When we were kids I learned all the little quirks she did. Mother said it had been a test. If I could name all the quirks for all the emotions, then I'd get a treat. Mother was a professional at reading people, it was logical that she'd teach me her trade.

And teach she did. And excelled did I.

So for someone as easy to read as Kagome, even if she had changed in our six years apart, and for someone as educated in reading as I was to be put together it was inevitable for me to know her better than she knew herself. I could anticipate her intentions like I did this morning, and I could even tweak them like I did last night without her knowing of it. It's not magic. Kagome is just gullible and I'm just crafty.

I flexed my muscles while I waited. Kagome would come back for me, leaving me here wasn't her style. She had something planned for me and she would want to see the fruits of her labor. But how long her plan involved was beyond me. She may have me wait here for hours before she brought whatever she had for me.

A growl worked its way from the back of my throat. If that girl left me here I'd hunt her down, break her legs, tie her to a stake, and have her wait for me to bring her a doctor.

"Katsumi!" I look in her direction, keeping my senses open to the area around me. The well should provide protection to something that comes behind me, and I could roll around it if something comes from the sides. A woman in a kimono, like full-on old-school, and a man in a robe are walking slightly behind my cousin. The woman looks from Kagome to me, probably noticing that there aren't many similarities between us, while the man seems irritated by something. His hands are in fists, his steps are hard, and he isn't looking at Kagome or me at all. Well, if that wasn't a warning signal, then I sure was as stupid as my grandpa insisted. "Katsumi!"

I wave back but I don't get up. The demon is missing. Sota swore they traveled together all the time – that he never left her side. He said that this demon _protected_ his sister. If all of that were true, then he should be here with her now.

The wind picks up, but it's from behind me, so the demon has to be somewhere downwind. I throw a glance at the trees. The wind keeps me from seeing any unnatural movements. I scan the roots and trunks all the while calling out to Kagome, teasing her for leaving me here.

_There!_ A blur of red and white zings from one tree trunk to another. He's fast; if I hadn't been looking I wouldn't have spotted him. But I can see him now, and I can predict his movement pattern now too. He'll come from the left. All I can do is wait; I can't keep up with him completely so I can't tell the timing of his attack.

Deep breath, deep breath. I close my eyes and feel his intentions. He's real set on scaring me. He's thinking too hard, not about _how_ he's going to do it – there's almost no thought there. He's merely thinking hard that he's going to _do_ it. His presence grows stronger…

I roll a second before he lands, damn – too soon. But I get to my feet a second later and put the well between us. Then I throw the rock in my hand and it strikes him right between the eyes. He falls back from surprise, his wide eyes too shocked to glare at me. Kagome's jaw looks unhinged. So does the woman's, it's quite comical really. The man looks between the demon and myself. Back and forth, like he can't help himself.

It's so funny I burst out in laughter. The side-splitting kind, the kind of laughter I hadn't found in years!

"What the hell's so funny!" The demon barks. "What the hell was that?"

"Y-your faces!" I shout at them bending over and leaving myself quite vulnerable. If my mother and father could see me they'd be crying in despair!

"She… She… She hit you…" The man pointed at me then at the demon in time with his eyes.

"Yeah, thanks for the _obvious_ deduction." The demon sneers with so much sarcasm the very air around him seems to thicken. "What would we ever do without you?" With the back of his hand he rubs between his eyes. "Dammit," he grumbles, "you said she wouldn't suspect a thing, Kagome!"

"Omigod!" Kagome exclaims. Her shock melts to horror as she tries to shove her jaw back into place. "How did you do that? How did you know Inuyasha was coming? Why would you throw a rock at him? And why are you laughing like that? Katsumi, what happened?"

It takes more effort to remember myself, I forgot how great a laugh like that can make you feel. "I figured you were planning something sneaky to get me to change my mind about this place." I shrug my shoulders lifting my hands with it, just to make her look foolish. "Sota mentioned the demon, so when I didn't see him I got _suspicious_." On the last word I lean in slightly to her, making her lean backward. I could see the sweat drops forming.

"Dammit, Kagome." The demon growled, "I told you this was stupid. What would make you want me to attack your own cousin for is none of my freaking business, but you even made _me_ look stupid for doing it."

"I believe I was the one who was opposed to this idea, Inuyasha." The man with the pony-tail cleared his throat, stamping his staff in irritation. "And I believe my choice of words held more class than yours."

"_Psh_. No one was talking to you Miroku." He turned on me with a heated amber glare. I'd seen nastier stuff on Shark Week. "And damn you," he started, "hitting me with a freaking rock as if you weren't about to piss your pants."

"You're about as frightening as a kitten," I quipped.

He bristled, "Who the fuck are _you_?" He took two steps in my direction, "Barging down Kagome's well and acting all tough?"

My cousin surprised me when she interrupted out smack talk, "Inuyasha, sit boy."

It is going down as one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen with my own two eyes. They way two words from my scrawny, little cousin could take down an arrogant, hot-shot, barely-out-of-training demon I pray never leaves my memories. Such a sight to see… And his face! Oh, his face when he realizes how much I _enjoyed_ watching Kagome seduce him… Deserves to be on one of those MasterCard commercials: Priceless.

"I'm sorry," the woman spoke up as she stood only a handful of centimeters from me. I nearly jumped back in alarm. But only because I have a personal bubble the size of a small moon, not because this woman was sending any alarms my way. "I'm Sango," she put a small hand to her sternum. "That is Miroku," she gestured to the man, "He's a monk." I nodded as if she made complete sense. Why would I care if he was a monk? Her next words told me why, "But don't let that fool you, he's a total womanizer."

"Sango! What a rude thing to say to a first acquaintance." He seemed to look put out, but he looked to the left, away from Sango and I with his eyes closed. She was telling the truth about him, he had not denied her words.

"And this is Inuyasha, the half-breed demon." Sango gestured again with the hand that wasn't gripping mine.

Inuyasha scoffed, "Did you _really _have to tell her I'm only _half_ demon?" he struggles to sit up, like its almost killing him inside and sits with crossed arms and frowning with lots of fang, the command seeming to ware off in short time, how disappointing. "Not like this stupid, human girl would understand the difference between a half and full demon anyway," he muttered more to himself.

"Exactly, which is why I said it." Sango answered.

I nearly ripped my hands out hers to get them back. A _half _demon! Only a _half_ demon! I strode to him until I was standing right in front of him. He seemed just as uncomfortable as I was by the position. I reached with lightning fast reflexes and rubbed both of his furry animal ears that poked out of his wild mane of silver hair.

"H-hey!" He didn't attack like I thought he would have, instead the _half demon_ blushed at my action and slapped my hands away. I wasn't blind to the fact that he took care to avoid me with his claws. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hell's Bells!" I cursed. He was only a half demon. I sighed in relief. Kagome was hanging out with a half demon! Ha! Leave it to _her_ to befriend a half demon, maybe the only one for miles, for eons! I could feel another side-sticking laugh coming but I squelched it before it became audible. Who knows, one day I might need it.

When I looked back at Inuyasha I realized that we both had moved back to a more comfortable space. Huh, a freakin' half-breed. Go figure. Guess it ain't all that bad. Kagome could've gotten into worse company. A future girl, a perverted monk, a pretty little demon-hunter, and a half-breed.

"Hey! Hey! Kagome, can I come out now?" A little creature was already perched on my cousin's shoulder before the question was completely finished. He was about the size of my full-grown, Maine Coon house cat. Actually, Proxy would have eaten this guy for breakfast.

"Hi!" The thing said; I watched its tail twitch several times before I realized it was his tail. A little boy with a fluffy tail, hanging onto Kagome's shoulder like he's done it before, with a tiny bit of fang at the edge of his smile, waved at me like I was his newfound friend. Okaaaaay, so Kagome got attached to a demon after all.

Still the optimist, I reflected that it was a baby demon at least.

"I'm Shippo! I'm going to be a great fox demon someday and protect your cousin Kagome!" He smiled full of innocence like human children do, which left me feeling somewhat ill. I don't handle children well. I dislike them, really. Apparently demon kids are the same.

"Why won't she say anything to me, Kagome?" Shippo whined, with – Oh Damn it all! – actual tears in his eyes.

"You surprised her, that's all Shippo." She rubbed Shippo's ear and smiled with all that tender mush her own mother gave her. "Katsumi, this is Shippo, a fox demon." When she turned to smile at me, it had grown cold and the mischievousness glint was back in her eye.

Another challenge issued and accepted.

I gathered myself again, and bent ever so slightly to get closer to the demon. Kagome was taller only by a smidge. "Hi, Shippo." I offered my hand as I gave him a closed-mouth smile. His face brightened immediately, so fox demons have crocodile tears too… He took my hand in both of his and pumped it vigorously.

"What's your name?"

Without a fault I said, "Katsumi."

But the kid seemed to be on a one track while he continued to pump my hand. "Hi, Katsumi! It's so nice to meet someone of Kagome's family. She never brings her family here."

I stared at Kagome while she blushed. "Well, it _is_ dangerous here, Shippo," she said. "What with all the demons hanging around." I gave a meaningful glare at my cousin before I ripped my hand from the kid's, still smiling all the while.

"Oh, yeah." His face fell. "The demons. I forgot. But she brought you!" He perked up. "So you must be pretty strong right, Katsumi?"

I smirked, _pretty strong_ in the middle ages of Japan, where demons parade around like it's a freaking amusement park?

"I suppose. I hit Inuyasha, didn't I?" The fox laughed, nearly falling off of Kagome's shoulder, she caught him just in time. Avoiding eye-contact with me and blushing a fierce plum color she righted him and cleared her throat. I could hear Inuyasha's cursing all the while.

"You owe me breakfast." I said. When she turned to me I met her eyes full on. "Breakfast, Kagome. You owe me."

She nodded, as if her shame couldn't bare the thought of owing me anything. "There's a village near here where I stay. It's also where I found Inuyasha."

The half demon grumbled under his breath, but followed behind Kagome almost blindly. Sango and Miroku followed suit behind me, whispering theories and secrets as we went. Apparently, Sango thought our dissimilarities was worth more thinking about than whether I was single, which was what Miroku was thinking about. Did Kagome travel with these guys all the time? I probably would have snapped if I were her.

**EntertheSecondGirlintheWell**

I stared at the old woman wondering desperately if there was some way I had missed waking up this morning and this whole thing was a dream. After feeding us I only merely asked her about her connections to my cousin. Somehow it turned into a serious discussion about Kagome being a reincarnation of this old woman's older sister who died because Inuyasha – her lover at the time – had betrayed her.

This brought about Inuyasha's tirade of some demon name Naraku who impersonated Inuyasha and attacked Kikyo, who he then turned into to trick Inuyasha into doing something he shouldn't have. And he went on about his vow of avenging Kikyo's wrongful death.

And though I have no idea why, Miroku and Sanga had to share their stories of how they met Kagome and swore to work together to put together a sacred jewel that gave demons a super sense of power and destruction.

A jewel that my own cousin had also sworn to put back together. Of course it was all her fault the rock broke in the first place. She also went on about how she couldn't allow Naraku to continue destroying the world like he was.

I'm not sure how demon matters are her concern and require her involvement, but there you go.

So, with all of their life stories out on the table I stared at them with a mixture of horror and apprehension. The old woman kept looking at me like a puzzle she wanted to solve. Inuyasha was thoroughly ignoring me – something I actually preferred. Sango kept swiping glances between Kagome and me, probably still trying to figure out how we could look so different. Miroku the monk insisted on sitting next to me, and I could feel his intense desire to do something I'll probably kill him for. The fox Shippo was curled up in my cousin's lap fast asleep.

If I took off for the well right now, without looking back, would I be able to face my reflection in the mirror tomorrow?

"T-that's one heck of a story. You know, Kagome, you should make a book of this. I'm sure everyone would want to read it. At least sell the idea to a manga company and have them turn it into a graphic novel."

My cousin smirked, "I'm not going to tell anybody about this, ever!"

I shook my head and let it go. I only needed to release some nervous tension, that's why I offered the stupid idea. It was too farfetched for the public anyway.

"So now that's she's here, what're you gonna do with her?" Inuyasha asked, his arm behind his head and looking as comfortable as a cat in front of a fireplace. His eyebrows were furrowed though, so he had to be irritated by something.

"Well-"

"I'm staying." I announced shocking everyone, including Kagome. She should have known I wouldn't just hop back into the well and pretend the whole thing never happened and go about my life for the rest of the summer all whimsical-like. Silly girl, maybe she doesn't know me at all.

"Katsumi, I don't think that's a good idea." Sango started.

I brushed her off, "It'll be fun, and I'm not going to be a burden. Besides, I'd like to see Kagome in action. It's a rare occasion indeed to see her so heroic." I felt the girl bristle at my remark.

"If you think I'm just going to let you-"

I was surprised Inuyasha cut Kagome off. "Just let her do what she wants, Kagome. If she's apart of your family I doubt we can change her mind."

"And what's that suppose to mean, Inuyasha?"

But he went on as if she hadn't said anything, "Plus wouldn't you love to see her scream at what you face with everyday?"

I stiffened at his words but I saw Kagome blush. She was more upset with me being here than I thought. "I'm not a screamer," I said.


	2. The Changes Maturity brings

**The Changes Maturity brings**

I stared at the stars with only the kind of amazement of someone who looks at the world as the center of the solar system and miraculously waking to find that it isn't. Because that's how I feel right now. It's as if I've lived my entire life under a rock and only now, right now, I see the sky. This must have been the way it was suppose to look, the way it really did look all the time. Whether from air pollution or from human ignorance to its true beauty, I've never seen so many stars before.

I spent the whole day doing silly and inconsequential tasks that made me think Kagome was lying about the hordes of demons who seek her sacred jewel shards everyday. She helped, with the task I mean; she did her part, did whatever she could, and thanked the villagers for helping her with such things as saving her life and giving her a cup of water to drink. She was some important priestess's incarnation, so the whole village looked at my cousin as a beckon of light in the storm.

Yeah, I envied such admiration. Not that I would have any need for it. What would I do with a village so hung up on their old priestess that they would nearly worship the next girl who came along that looked like her? Not a damn thing.

But after we went with Sango and some of the other women into the forest to gather wild herbs, Kagome showed me all the plants she could now identify with a bat of her eye. My little cousin who was the complete opposite of me was becoming quite a remarkable woman. I couldn't say that this experience wasn't helpful to her in the least.

It was just the demons I had a problem with.

I sighed to the billions of stars. When I learned she spent her days traveling in the feudal era of Japan with a demon, from her mother no less, I was immediately worried about how to kill the demon and how to null his enthrall over Kagome. But it was all for nothing. The half demon Inuyasha was not at all harmful to Kagome. In fact, if I had more time to study they're interactions, I'd bet anything that he cared deeply for the girl.

Huh, so stars _do_ twinkle. I thought that was just saying.

I left my cousin with her companions after dinner to take in this one moment by myself. If there was anything I wanted to remember more from this trip it would be this moment right here. Just me and an endless night sky in its entire God-made glory. Such a sight that could make any man weep.

I felt a disturbance in the air as a night breeze glided around me. It was thick, the presence and not the air, almost oppressive as it blew past me. I sat up from my sprawl in the grass and followed the direction the wind was moving with my eyes. The village was that way. Maybe it was my imagination; maybe a day of time traveling had gotten to some loose screws in my head and stole them.

Yeah, and maybe I was a duck wishing to become a swan.

Hell's Bells. Couldn't the exciting stuff happen during the day, so that I didn't have to do any of those chores? I raced past the trees and found myself in front of the village in the middle of the night in a matter of seconds. Not a thing was out of place. Everything was completely still, the very air settled calmly as it reached the village. Laundry fluttered for only a half-second before stilling. Grass swayed but stopped in the middle of its dance. I heard a dog howling softly, but it gave a disinterest woof before it too became nothing.

So… False alarm? Did I actually imagine the ominous feeling? A demon really wasn't going to attack and burn the whole thing to the ground?

A shriek answered my questions. A horrible sound, worst than a screaming baby, worst than nails on a blackboard, worst than the screeching of tires on pavement rose and demolished the calm serenity of the night. It didn't stop but an echo answered nonetheless and rose to create an ear bleeding crescendo. Unconsciously I moved to shield my ears even though it would have done nothing to ease the pain.

Then I saw the creature causing all the agony. It looked like a snake, only taller than any tree and thicker than the houses of the village. Its jaw was wide and reminded me of a Venus flytrap. Complete with serrated teeth and all. The awful screeching continued, even though the monster's mouth closed. A voice, deep and dripping with malice spoke within the sounds of pain. I barely heard it.

"_I must have the jewel! I must have it! I must devour and destroy and demolish all in my way of obtaining power!"_

Damn. I mean…_Damn_.

I guess I should tell you what I do for a living, just so you can completely comprehend the magnitude of utter shock I'm in at the sight of a giant snake you'd find in some Mayan apocalypse. I'm called an Executioner. In America we've got demons, lots and lost of demons. And then there are those who hunt these demons. But the difference of eras is palpable, I mean, in the future – or my present or whatever – humans are much higher on the food chain than they are right now – in these feudal times.

Demons don't walk around in their "old forms" which would be their normal forms, I suppose. In order to survive, demons began taking up human disguises in whatever means they could find. You don't see a giant snake the size of a monorail; it would've been devoured by the mob if such a thing were ever witnessed. I mean, there was Godzilla, right? He didn't last long when the military came in.

So hear me loud and clear when I say how paralyzed I am at what I see attacking the village. And everyone is screaming and running but they know this form, like it isn't life-changing stuff to have an outrageously overgrown garden snake demolishing your home. I fight humanoid things, things that have a face and two arms and two legs. They're things that, beneath the surface are disgusting and frightening and terrible, but I also know that what's under the flesh is also something that has learned the cosmic change of the food chain. This snake doesn't know of any such change because it hasn't been brought about yet.

I throw up against a tree.

Then I can hear Kagome's voice. Strong. Commanding. Worried but not wavering.

I crouched low and began to move slowly towards the old woman's shack, removing any leftover bile along my mouth, to where Kagome was sleeping. Inuyasha burst through the open door, boasting and shouting right back at the demon – something about it looking like a slug and making fun of its mother. I continued as slow as possible ignoring the crashing sound of Inuyasha beating the snake down.

There's an itching and prickling along my entire skin. _Turn back! Run away! Flee for the impending doom of your soul!_ It's hard to ignore a survival defense mechanism. But I do because I have to know where Kagome is. I have to see her.

Before I was within shouting distance a giant boomerang swished through the air and hit the demon right before it closed its jaws around Inuyasha. Sango stood in the threshold of the shack, still in her kimono, looking rumpled and tired and mad as hell. Miroku stood behind her, runes stuck to the staff in his hands while he shouted his incantation.

A bright light flashed behind me but I ignored that too. It wasn't until Miroku and Sango started chanting her name in delight did I realize Kagome was behind me, fighting the demon. She had a bow and a glowing arrow ready to fire. When she let the arrow loose it struck the demon somewhere in its neck and another flash flared.

She actually hit it.

Go figure, she actually hit it. I remember this girl with zero hand-eye coordination.

Inuyasha gave a mighty roar as he slashed at the spot where Kagome's arrow hit. Cut the demon in half – so to speak. Remarkable, a dog half demon fighting alongside a human girl, wearing her freaking school uniform at that. Did she really fight in that thing? How many of those did she go through? And it's summertime anyway, why was she wearing that thing?

The demon tried to give another horrible cry but only a dry rasp came out as it died, how fortunate. I moved toward Kagome as she bent to pick something up from inside the demon's corpse, a glowing sliver of, I suppose, was that sacred jewel she had broke. The sliver shimmered one last time before Kagome held it close to the part she had collected and the two connected.

How convenient, that it could magically glue itself back together.

"So how about that, Katsumi? Still think I'm too weak to handle myself?"

I laughed. It probably sounded hollow and cold – but at least it wasn't crazed and maniacal like I felt at the moment – before I made my way over to her. I slapped her on the back and shook my head, so dumbfounded there were no words for what I thought of her. "Pretty amazing stuff," was all I could finally come up with. She seemed satisfied with that and practically strutted back to the shack, the villagers chanted her name as she went.

Thank heaven she missed the shaking in my hands and legs.

As she left I stood next to Inuyasha. He looked displeased by my presence, but I don't give much thought as how a demon feels. "What breed is that?" I asked when Kagome and the others were farther away.

His ears twitched as he stared at me. "W-what?"

"What breed is that?"

He frowned, suspecting a trick I'm sure. "A-a reptilian demon, of some sort."

My eyes widened of their own accord. "You don't know?"

"Look," he snapped as he began to walk away from me, "it's a demon that was going to take the jewel. I don't need to know anymore than that. I killed it, didn't I?"

A scream nearly ripped from my throat. But I'm not so hot-headed that I attack a foolish and stupid half-demon. When the sound of an upcoming horde resounded somewhere within the miles of forest surrounding me, I grabbed Inuyasha by his oversized, outrageously red shirt. "Do you _want_ toknow what kind of breed that is?" He struggled and cursed. "It's the kind of breed that attracts other demons from the scent of its blood!"

Of course it didn't take me until the horrible, inhuman announcement of other demons in the lust of the hunt for me to figure it out. But this kid didn't need to know that. I shoved him aside as I rushed to Kagome. She looked as scared as a scrawny high school girl should look in the face of a thousand demons. 'Bout freaking time for it too.

As the first set entered the village – the scouts, sent to check everything out – I moved in close.

Have I mentioned that I dislike the summer time? Because I look crazy for wearing a jacket, no matter how light it is. But it's necessary for my line of work you see; it hides all my valuable possessions. Like my dueling knives I keep crossed at my back, the handles just sticking out from my hips. I seize a handle into each grip, and with a flick of the wrist both shining blades cross in front of me, ready for the offensive.

I decapitate the two demons closest to me in seconds and move with practiced and trained grace to nick off two more. At least the scouts are decent-looking enough to ignore the horns and the shark jaws and the discolored flesh, they have two arms and two legs. Blood is blood; no matter what the outside of them is the inside is all the same. Somehow that comforts me, stabilizes me.

It doesn't really matter if all the scouts die or not. I mean, if there's a demon out there sending scouts, it's strong enough to be a bother no matter what. Those are the most deadly, the most insane and living entirely for their bloodlust. The kinds of monsters that hunt your dreams at night and your paranoia during the day. The kind I've been born and bred to destroy.

So I've got some practice with these low bred fools.

Of course, I don't do the impossible. Not all of them die, the weaker and smarter ones flee, whether from me or from the bigger nastsies on their way, it's hard to say. As their howls of bloodlust pierce the sky I regroup with the others. Their shocked faces remind me of what I have done.

Dammit. Kagome doesn't know about what Mother and I do in America. She thinks I'm studying to be some damned psychiatrist. Damn it all!

"K-Katsumi?" she asks, her eyes on the twin blades at my sides, "How did… How could you…" It's impossible for her to comprehend everything. Her mind cannot rationalize the girl she knows as her cousin and the girl who just mercilessly murdered thirty demons. Believe me, if not for all the trials in my own complicated life, I would have had the same trouble understanding her changes as well.

But she and I are not of the same mindset. "Kagome," I say with a hard voice, my eyes locked on hers, "Now's not the time. We have a horde on our hands. I promise I'll explain it to you when there's time." Something inside Kagome fastens onto my voice. I'm not sure if I've lied to her or not, but she knows now is not the time. She notches an arrow.

It flies in its strange glowing aura and it hits true. A blue glow engulfs her target and three others in the vicinity of it. Such marvelous power she can wield now, such a strange thing for me to witness. Without missing a beat, she fires several more, each hitting where it should.

I scoff, to be outdone by my little cousin is a bruise my dignity could do without. I charge and slice off the heads of six demons in seconds. It feels odd to fight amongst companions; people who would not sooner stab you in the back after the demons are taken care of. How strange to know I can count on them to kill their fair share. Even the fox kid his doing his part. A laugh almost makes it way out; the feeling is so foreign to me I shove it down hard and focus killing the four demons trying to surround me instead.

A scream, more horrible than the snake's ear-bleeding shriek, cries from somewhere nearby. Kagome…She's holding her shoulder and it's bleeding. A nasty piece of work stands before her, his hand drenched in her hot blood. "Inuyasha!" She cries and flings her sacred rock at him.

His movements are shift and natural as he plucks it from the air and strikes the demon that hurt my cousin down. As another demon comes from behind, he loses his hold on the jewel and protects Kagome – pushes her in front of him… It's unfathomable. Though I had suspicions of their relationship, seeing it with my own eyes does not help the matter at all.

Miroku has the shiny broken jewel now. He's rather good with that staff of his. At another time and place I would very much like to spar with him sometime. Not just anybody snatches my interest like that. He kills four, five, nine, thirteen demons with quick efficiency. But one catches him in the back and he has to discard the jewel before he can defend himself.

Sango catches it with grace as she releases her enormous boomerang. She knows how to kill them, where to strike and when. A woman after my own lifestyle I suppose, a demon slayer I believe she said. And she slayed quite well.

Before I can understand what has happened next Sango passes me the rock of such importance. I don't know what compelled her to do it. The kid was closer than I was and he should be far more entrusted with it than I. But something caused her to give it to me. And something secret even to myself I think seeked it out. When my flesh touched it, the jewel pulsed inside my hand. Just once. A tiny bump no inanimate object has any right to be doing.

I could feel it when the demons trained their focus on me. Like a rabbit or a dear sensing the presence of a wolf or a wild cat. And it was a feeling that did not settle well with me. Fear pumps the adrenaline into overdrive and I feel that heightened sense one only achieves when close to death's empty embrace.

Believe me, I've been there before, I know what Death feels like.

With the jewel around my neck I could use both hands and let loose a flurry of quick movements, mostly basics but basics are the building blocks of… life I suppose. I kill and slaughtered the demons as easy as uprooting a blade of grass. I'm quick and sharp with blades, I have to be as an Executioner, but I've never been _this _good. Like the simplicity of a light switch my technique seems to have doubled in finesse with a blink of an eye. But no matter how many I destroyed more seemed to come at me, as if spouting from the very earth beneath me.

There was a hot, burning sensation in my chest, at my sternum. It spread, like poison in the bloodstream, this ache, this burning desire I could not understand. _Compromised_… I must have been poisoned by one of the demons. If that was true and I had been _compromised_ then I was of no more use to Kagome and her warriors.

I fled. Such speed is only found in dreams as I race through the forest. Blurs of green and black swallowed my vision. When I could run no more – and it seemed like mere seconds to me – I turned to find that the demons had chased me.

But I blacked out before I could even lift my metal at the ready.

**You have to review now! Let me know what you think of the story. I mean, you've read this much already, what are a couple of words of **_**your**_** opinion going to do? Come on! You should be excited to share your thoughts! I'm excited, and I don't even know you! It would help and motivate me so much if I know you actually like the story and the characters. ^_^ **


	3. Our First Meeting could have gone better

**Dedicated to my first review! Thank you Blackenflames**

Our first Meeting could have Gone Better

Have you ever woken up and have no idea how you got there? Been there. Have you ever blacked out when you were driving and miraculously wake up on the side of the road, safe and sound? Done that once, not ever again. Now here's the million dollar question: Have you woken up drenched in someone else's blood? In all my life, through all the horrors I have endured and killed and continued to kill not once could I say that has ever happened to me.

During stressful times once I realize I'm safe after a rush of adrenaline and a near death experience I wake up in a hospital or warm bed that some stranger Mother knows let me borrow, and I have not idea how I ended up there. One time a flock of harpies pursued me and after I shot most of them down, scared the rest away, and comprehended that I was no longer in any danger I just passed out right there. Driving the car and everything and I was out like a light. Next thing I know I'm pulled over on the side of the road, the car was off and the doors were locked – safe and sound, just as I said.

In spite of my unconventional life, to awaken to the stench of someone else's blood, make no difference what species it belongs to, I could at one time say that would never happen to me. Yet, here I am; leaning up against the trunk of a tree with severed limbs and broken bodies and dead-weighed heads thrown about me. I retch immediately. The smell got to me before I registered what was really around me. When I finally pulled myself together and stood away from the tree the reality of the massacre froze me to the spot.

Too much, so much…Blood, blood everywhere, and not a drop of it is mine.

It was like a ribbon unraveling, it spun out of control and the rips and tears of it traveled on, through the entire length of it. Damaged. Unnatural. My sanity is slipping silently past silky hands. I grapple with myself, righting the damage… This is my first time waking to a sea of blood, but it is not my first time dealing with the damage of the horrors of the night.

I've seen bodies torn apart like this before. A crime scene of such inhuman wrongness, I know how to handle myself. I rationalize and explain it away before it reaches the farthest reaches of my soul.

_Another demon was here._ I tell myself. _He killed the demons that chased me because they were violating his territory. _There, see, it's easy. _A powerful demon, a Demon Lord, ruler of these lands – wherever these lands may be – killed every last one of them for the lonely right that they were his to kill. _Though there is no rule like that from the Accords as I have ever known, but I live in a different time and country. _The rules here are different._ _The demons hold the law here, not the humans. And here this powerful demon lord destroyed my pursuers. But he did not attack me…_Why? Why not me? _Because I was covered in the demon blood. It spilled on me, or I did it out of self-preservation – doesn't matter. My human scent was blocked to the demon lord's keen senses and so he left me here without ever knowing I existed in the first place. _

The ribbon was mending itself. It gathered about its spool and its deformities were righted, as if it had never been tarnished to begin within. And so as the ribbon was fixed, so was my sanity. Panic began to ebb away and my awareness righted itself on its axis. The stench was still there, the itchiness of the drying blood caked on my arms and neck no longer bothered me, my priorities began to list themselves correctly again.

I sighed out the rest of my distress just as I heard a small, soft noise to the left of me. I stiffened, that sensation of being a rabbit gnawed at me, but I shoved it away again. It would do me no good to freak out at every tiny sound a forest made. Of course something, instinct probably, that self-preservation gene some of us humans are born with, told me that it was no normal sound of nature. Someone was watching me. Rather intensely if I were to say so. Carefully, as slow as I could time it, I turned toward the sound.

A pair of deep gold eyes met mine and I felt the scenery of the world melt away as I stared into those eyes. They were far too focused, too intense for human eyes. As dangerous as they were I felt rooted where I stood, unable to leave those eyes. Slowly, like savoring the moment as if it were fleeting and would vanish into thin air, the rest of him became known to me. Gold eyes, long hair that flowed like liquid silver, moonlit skin bearing dark red claw marks, a straight nose, high cheekbones, a sharp jaw, a slender neck that had no business on a man, a straight and full mouth that I didn't ever really noticed on men before – their lips I mean.

It was as if I were pulling away piece by piece the features of him that I found captivating, alluring, dangerous, and impossible for any one man to possess. He was beautiful. The kind artists only hope to capture, the kind composers only wish to create, the kind humans only dream about then forget as the sun rises; a beauty so devastating that merely looking upon it leaves one abandoned and drowning. For I was drowning in the sight of him, the awesome presence he wielded like it were a mere cloak and not the enormity of the ocean.

Breathing no longer seemed of any importance, blinking sounded like foolishness, running, however; running was something I did in these kinds of situations. For my rationality had become the only voice in my head at that moment. _This is the demon lord who killed all those pathetic demons. He sensed that someone had not died in his massacre and now he has come to kill you!_

So, I ran. Running was something that is more natural to me than fighting, than swordsmanship, than breathing. I could run blindfolded, underwater, in a tight space, anywhere. It was something that I truly loved to do, even when faced on the brink of death.

I wasn't aware that running had become the same thing as jumping from tree to tree, leaving the demon lord in the dark. After all, it is unwise to run in the dark and in the forest. You can't see your footing and there are far too many things that could trip you up. A sink hole, a root, a small shrub, an animal's burrow, the list is endless really. So if you can avoid it, do. Apparently my body was a step ahead of me and now I found myself swinging through the wilds of feudal Japan's forest like Tarzan!

_It's remarkable what the human body can do under pressure._

Several minutes trek by and I realize I'm not tired, which isn't so odd. Not my first time brushing with death, you see. Nonetheless, I stop to catch a break. I drop down to the ground and take deep breathes. The demon's spellbounding appearance is engraved on my mind like metal work. Even when I close my eyes, he's as clear as if he were standing before me!

It unnerves me.

I push the image away but I know it's still there, waiting for me when I am weak or something.

And for no reason at all I can feel my face flush. Dammit all to hell! What did he do to me? I know he wasn't a wizard; he was powerful true enough, yes, yes, very powerful. I punch the tree closest to me though it didn't deserve it. Stupid tree.

Then, just as I felt like myself again, a hot ache in my chest became suddenly unbearable. I put my hand where the sensation was the strongest, the center of my sternum, and there was a quiet pulsing beneath my hand. Too high and too centered to by my heartbeat, the beat was unnatural and my warnings sounded immediately.

I wasn't sure how I managed it, but I reached _inside_ my own body, passing through the skin and muscle like it where but a spider's web. Then I found the object of my discomfort, the damned broken pebble! I fisted it in my hand when I seized the thing. But an instant later I flung it away from me, the idea that it had been inside me…scared me.

I glared at the rock as it shimmered with false innocence on the cold dirt. Kagome's special stone, she'd kill me if I lost it.

My button-down over shirt made a find purse for the jewel as I covered the creepy item and tied it to my belt loop. Kagome wasn't going to blame me for losing the damned thing; I wouldn't be able to stand it if I caused her any more misfortune than what fate had already given her. Damn it all to Hell's bells!

"Who are you?"

Frozen, ice, glaciers, the tundra, snow, frost, cold…Frozen.

He followed me, caught up with me. Why? I thought if I ran… What if _that _was what set him off? What if he prefers to play with his prey before he tired to eat it? Oh, and try he would! I am not so weak that I would be an easy snack.

I turned and crouched, my hand on the handle of a knife. He'd probably kill me before I unsheathed it. I blinked hard to clear my vision - when had I put my weapons back?

He sneered at me, damn cocky lords… Think they're so tough… Not that their not of course. I'm just pissed they think so, is all. "Do not make me ask it again." I narrow my eyes and judge the distance. He caught up to me and who knew how long he's been here too. He could have been right behind me and simply wanted to know what my next move was. He could kill me whenever he damn well chooses.

I straightened, taking my hand away from the sword. It'd be useless against his speed anyway. I am skilled in hand-to-hand with a human and pretty good against the runts of the demon litter. But anything higher than that required a weapon forged in silver. As I tried to look nonthreatening, I made damn sure to not look him in the eye. His amour was decent enough a place though, he had good amour. Damn it all, why'd I have to run into a lord?

"A lost woman," I answered. He had only asked who I was and that was simply enough to answer without giving any name. Besides, names wouldn't really tell him who I was anyway. He didn't know me and so a name would have been useless to him.

He tilted his head and I could feel his intense eyes on me. No doubt he saw the twin blades at my back now that I had no jacket hiding them. I should have brought more with me than just the two knives. Foolishness, stupid, ignorant, and arrogant as I was, I only thought I'd be killing Kagome's demon. I opted for nonthreating thoughts as well, in case he could read mine.

"What are you doing out here? There isn't a village within a hundred miles of where we are." The thought that he was only scaring me came and left in the span of a second. Why would he have any reason for scaring me? Letting one's victim know of their ultimate demise, however, was a demon's many favorites before killing.

"Like I said, I'm lost." His sneer became more pronounce. Doesn't like smart asses does he? Then I'm screwed six ways to Sunday, and it's only Tuesday! "It wasn't my intention of disturbing you, my Lord."

He pulled his lovely lips – which I suddenly can't look away from – back to revel the whitest set of fangs I had ever seen. Not the biggest but certainly the whitest. A demon poster boy for Crest. Honestly, how do some demons maintain that million dollar invested smile when they don't even brush? The world is an unjust place, I tell you.

"How can I not hear you slaughter that band of miserable spawn? I ask you again, what is your purpose here?" And such a voice to be on those lips, demons truly are monstrous!

"Firstly, I did not kill those demons. You did." There is a subtle twitch to his body, if I had bothered to look and not been cowardly staring at his breastplate I probably would have known what it meant. "Secondly, I have no purpose out here. I woke up just moments before you appeared. I don't really know how I even ended up there. Which again leads us back to your first question, I am _lost_." Even as the words flew out of my mouth I could see the outcome of them. I was going to die by this demon lord's hand.

Now I know I can get into a great deal of trouble from my mouth, that Mother always said it would be the death of me one day, but I have gotten out of more trouble by using it too. Something else Mother never lets me forget.

His gorgeous features flicker, into what I have no idea, but before the thought of killing me registers I start to _really_ use my words. Like I did with Kagome, though that was child's play, I can manipulate with my voice. It's called Influence. It's like the force: _"These are not the droids you're looking for_."

So I start using them on Mr. Demon Lord's pointy elf ears. "**I am of no concern to you. I am unarmed and of no threat. Go away and leave this poor human alone**."

I turned to walk away but his cold, deep voice freezes me again. "You think a spell singer's lies will sway me?" And in the span of the instant where I see him where he stands and my instincts start screaming I'm pinned to the very tree I had attacked.

"H-how?" I gasp. Ever been stuck to a tree, barely dangling by your toes, while a demon stares you down? Take it from me, not pleasant. The Influence is usually my go-to for spell-slinging and about all I can do naturally. I've only met a handful of things that are immune to it. One of them is an old deft man who once lived across the street from me, completely and totally human.

"I am not so foolish to believe everything I hear." His voice isn't ugly, in fact that may be why I'm freaking out so much. Life threatening situation, I barely bat an eye. This man speaking to me in the same tone of voice he'd use over the dinner table while he holds me by the neck with one hand, scary as all hell gets.

I claw at his arm. He only used one, either he's cocky or he's stupid, though I don't ever think there's much difference between the two. Though he only had me by one hand it was like a gallows's necklace. It takes someone minutes to die by suffocation. Only seconds by a snapped neck…But with his hold, he doesn't plan on snapping anything.

"S-sorry," begging never works and I'm not keen on using it, and it's not like my Influence is my only gift. "I-instinct. Y-you. Know?" Talking is hard; it burns in the back of throat.

His eyes narrow at me so focused on mine I nearly loose all sense of myself and stop breathing altogether – _nearly_. Then his hold loosens, setting me down on my feet, but he doesn't let go I noticed with distain. "Why are you here? And do not evade the question."

"I don't know." He's right, evading is a bad idea. He can probably sense the truth or something inconvenient like that. "I woke up among those demons. They were already dead." I have to be careful now that he knows about the Influence, speaking slowly, taking pauses between sentences.

He shows no change in his facial features, but as close as we are, with his eyes as trained on mine and mine on his as they are, it's not hard to catch the flicker in the gold depths. Flickers, of course, mean nothing or they mean a great change in everything. "And you found the sacred jewel among them?"

I feel something inside me cringe. _Do not lie to this demon! _I could have said yes, let him think that I found it for whatever reason he wished to think. It would have been easy to lie to him. Lying to a demon is as easy as lying to a stranger, and as bothersome as lying to an enemy. I do the talent well, what with the Influence and all. I did have to start somewhere before I could use the Influence as a weapon.

Can't depend on one talent alone, as Mother says.

But lying would also leave me with clean up duty. I'd have to keep lying and keep lying and not get them entangled and not get caught. Such a complete hassle, and I have so many problems already… as the gold eyes keep reminding me.

"No," I'm amazed by how strong my voice is, after he tried to crush it and all. "I did not find it among them." I sighed just because sometimes I don't like telling the truth. "I took it so that they wouldn't get it and they followed me." A frown touches my features, it sounds stupid when you say it out loud.

When he pulled back I realized how much being short really sucks. I probably came up to his collarbone, not that bad a place really. The collarbone isn't too hard to shatter. And demon bones are still bones. They break just like human bones. It's the demon's flesh that could pose the problem depending on how hard it is.

His status as a lord – which was only an assumption, mind you – made his looking down on me appear natural. Sucks all the same. I huffed at him, like he didn't just have me by the scruff of my neck, and stuck my nose in the air. I don't have much business in demon class systems, though I know humans are nonexistent on it, and demon etiquette is about as lost on me as breathing underwater. But I've learned well enough to not let them try to dominate me. Even if they consciously don't know their doing it, it's best not to allow wiggle room. If this demon, with above average looks, put me under his thumb then that's where I'd stay. Not. Cool.

"Did you steal it?" Why couldn't this guy just back off? Why did he care so much about this stupid cursed thing anyway?

"No! I did not _steal_ it." I sneered at the word. I'm a liar and I've killed plenty, but I've got lines I don't cross too. Breaking one too many Commandments could land me somewhere I'd rather be less than here with this impossibly, remarkable looking demon lord. "A woman had it before me, and when these demons attacked her, she gave it to me so the demons wouldn't get it. Is this interrogation over now?" I pulled away from him. Though, in the light all I wanted was to stay and stare at him. If he could have kept his mouth shut, maybe I would've.

His features soften, not saying he was looking kindly at me, just that his harsh sneer disappeared. He still looked like he could kill me, just with more of impassion nonchalance than disgraced annoyance. The latter I preferred when posed with the prospect of death. It just felt more like I deserved it or something.

"Interrogation?" the word seemed to take him aback. I watched with unrestraint fascination as he relaxed his shoulders the slightest. What was he up to? "If that is what you wish to call it. Now tell me the name of this girl."

Oh yeah, did I mention I hate being told what do? Well, I hate it. Loathe it more so when it's being done by a freaking demon, too!

"Yeah? Give me one good reason why I should?"

"Because I am telling you to do so."

I actually gave a shout of laughter at him. "That really the best you can do?" I put a finger to my chin to give him comfort that I was thinking it over. But really what I needed to do was return the jewel back to Kagome. Then hop back into that well, dragging my cousin along with me. She'd be lucky if there's a pebble of the well left for her to keep once I was done blowing it up.

You laugh, but I'm serious.

But to get back to Kagome and the well, I'd have to find someone who could guide me. This lord isn't ideal, I couldn't control him and that was dangerous. What I needed was a poor human who knew the land well. It'd take a while, I have no idea how long I've been out or how far I've traveled.

Didn't this guy say there wasn't a village nearby for a hundred miles? Then it would at least take me a day and night to get somewhere and-

A hundred miles?

Where the hell was I anyway?

I ran, and ran far apparently, but that didn't mean much at all to me.

"Alright, demon lord," I enjoyed his blink of surprise with as much bolster as I could manage for such a small reaction, "You get me back where I came from, and I'll answer any three questions you want with only truth." I held three figures right in front of his face just to see if it would annoy him to invade his personal space.

He grabbed my hand, applying absolutely no pressure, making it feel like he somehow just _claimed_ that hand as his… creep, pointy-ear bastard, though I'd be lying if I said his hand wasn't warm and pleasantly rough against mine. "I have no intention of taking you anywhere, and you will answer every question I have for you." With a shift in his voice, I think he truly believed that is how it was going to go down.

I flicked my free hand and press the blade at his throat. Oh…Oh Wow… He eyes kinda light up when he's surprised…it's…distracting… I put more pressure and one tiny bead of blood sprouts from where the knife meets his skin. Silver is magical. It makes girls happy when boys give it to them. It can make a table display look like the loveliest thing even when the dishes are chipped and the table cloth is singed. And it is a mighty fine weapon against demons – of _any_ breed.

It's pure you see, silver. Like gold or iron or copper, silver can be found just as it is in nature. But the difference between silver and any other metal is the affect it has against the skin cells of demons.

See it's all about science and I kinda flunked it in high school, but a demon's skin is denser than a human's. Making it stronger sure, but nothing is invincible. Silver reacts to that denser material in a bad way. Like the relationship's gone so far south you need a restraining order, bad.

In feudal ear Japan, silver isn't really in high stock. So some demons don't really know what's on me can kill them. Element of surprise's got nothing to do with science. And the surprise I see in the demon lord's eye grants me such a satisfaction I feel a wicked grin spread on my face. When I feel the dry blood flake off from it the satisfaction just about shrivels up.

"I don't like being told what to do - no matter who is talking. Also, I need to get back to this woman and give her back her jewel. Now, you keep asking questions about her so I'm assuming you may know her, which is an unsettling thought for me." I twist the knife, I don't add any pressure, just reminding Mr. Demon Lord it's still there. And he's still bleeding. "Now, do you know where the Bone Eaters Well is?"

I'm scared of him. I believe I've mentioned that I don't _do_ impossible. Well, standing up to an old-school demon lord in its prime without a dash of fear makes one stupid, not brave. I'm not stupid. Shivers flee down my spine making my skin crawl at the close distance between us. He's got height, strength, and a hurricane's worth of power in just his gold eyes alone. I'm messing with the Angel of Death by allowing myself so close to him, threatening him, grinning like a mad woman to his stone cold face.

But he's the only one around.

And I'm desperate now.


	4. Even Demons wear Jewelry

**This chapter is dedicated to NiZuNaLoVeSyOu. She was wondering when it'd be posted, and it motivated me to post it ^_^**

Even Demons Wear Jewelry, but not for Fashion

So here's something I learned, because you can't know everything all the time, his name is Sesshomaru. Last name's a bit iffy, but with a mouthful of a first name like that I doubt I'd be able to handle a last name. He didn't approve of Mr. Demon Lord and "requested" I use the name he gave me. Of course he had to stop calling me "Woman," so I think it all worked out.

But I like it, his name I mean. It's long and has more S's than Mississippi, I feel snake-ish when I say it and I have to be sure I don't mess it up when I do so I say it carefully. It probably sounds stupid when I say it, treading across every syllable with such care. Not that he actually answers me when I use it anyway. I like it though. There's something about it, beautiful like him.

I'm not a blind woman. I've killed some fine demons in my time, but this lord takes the whole freaking cake. There just are no words for him. Feelings though, there's plenty of that and I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a top-notch executioner and not some easily-swoon maiden.

But even us executioners want a bit of swooning now and again. I mean, the last time I even came close to swooning was when… Never mind.

Another thing I learned, since the world is big and I don't know everything, there's a little girl who travels with him and absolutely thinks the world of him. There's this toad-like creature, also, that serves him and calls him "Master" and everything. A damned annoying servant, but damned loyal too. Some days I wonder if Sesshomaru ever fantasizes about killing him. I've just met him and I think about it constantly.

Of course the toad doesn't like me much, and continuously deems it his responsibility to tell me so. At least he stopped calling me names. After he labeled me a "foul-smelling, stupid, human bitch" Sesshomaru let me strike the toad with my knife. He'll never be able to grow back the chunk in his ear I slice off.

I know he let me do it of course. That ugly word, I don't like. I don't tolerate it. And I most certainly do not let _anyone_ call me by it. Sesshomaru seems to agree that the toad should not have called me that, or he would have stopped me from slicing at his ear. I could have killed him, though. Maybe Sesshomaru was testing me? Maybe he was testing my silver?

Also, I'm not allowed to do anything, and I mean _anything_, to the little girl. Sesshomaru finds her special. There's no obvious telling of his feelings, he's probably handled years of experience under his belt when it comes to hiding his affections of anything. Demon lords and all that jazz, what a friendly bunch. It's not like I would strike the child or yell at it or anything, but here's the thing: I don't like children.

They're loud and messy and so…so delicate. I don't do well around delicate things. We don't even own a single object made of glass cause of my dislike for everything fragile. It's a very good thing the little girl clings to Sesshomaru the way she does. Though, I do not like the curious glint in her eye when she looks my way.

Our journey was silent, the way I preferred them. After we got our names out of the way and regrouped with Sesshomaru's party, we set off for the Bone Eaters Well. For some reason the girl was happy to be heading this way, which bothered me a great deal. If the girl knew of the well she had to know about Kagome. And if she knew about Kagome, then of course Sesshomaru would know about her. Maybe they even met. Which would all mean that my little cousin has been far too involved with these devils.

Inuyasha I could tolerate. He appeared to actually care about Kagome, and being a halfer and all he was bound to human emotions other demons were not. So Inuyasha cared about Kagome, fair enough, but for Sesshomaru and Kagome to be in the same vicinity of one another set my teeth on edge and my blood to boil.

I saw how much good this place had done for Kagome, but it didn't outweigh the dangers and perils it put her through.

_And who are you to decide what's best for Kagome?_

Shut up, Conscious, no body likes you.

"We will camp here for tonight." Sesshomaru's voice drifted through my harsh thoughts. It was such an unjust thing for him to have such an enchanting voice. If it wasn't my soul-sworn duty to kill anything demonic, I wouldn't have minded spending more time with him. Provided he didn't try to kill me or anything.

And we're just going to cut that line of thinking right now.

"How much farther?" I asked as the toad and the girl set up a fire.

Sesshomaru no longer looks at me, probably because if he did he would remember the humiliation of my knife at this throat. A tiny pink scar marred his neck now; if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't have seen it. "Another day and night, at the very least."

I frowned at that. How did I get so far in such a short time? I mean, I know I couldn't run for a whole day straight, nothing can. So how did it happen?

_The demons must have knocked you out. You found the jewel in your skin, right? They needed to take you to their den so they could properly cut it out of you. When they rushed into Sesshomaru's territory he killed them all. Their blood hid your scent. And now you are where you are. _

Okay. Sure. Why not? Only… When did they knock me out? How did I let them do that?

"Is there somewhere I can wash this out?" I point to my shirt. We had come across a pond earlier in our travel and Sesshomaru waited while I rinsed the blood off my face and neck and arms. It was quick work and I wasn't sure if I even got it all out of my hair. No matter how short it is, you can still manage to get God knows what in your hair when killing nasties.

He nodded to his right, "There is a shallow river over that way." We leave it unsaid what should happen if I get into trouble while on my own. I tricked Sesshomaru into being my guide, not my bodyguard.

Without a thank you I walk away and moments later find the river he was talking about. It went about as high as my ankles and was so icy cold I almost screamed. Instead I slipped my tank off and shoved it down into the water.

It wasn't long before the sun set and the moon peaked around the tree tops to see what I was doing. Even though it didn't feel so long to me, it was really a couple of hours I sat there straining and washing and rubbing at the material. Black is the safest color to wear in my line of work. It can hide all manner of stains. It's just the stench I need to get rid of.

Before long I'm soaked and shivering in my haste to get rid of all that blood. As I try to clean it away I can still see the sight I woke up to this morning. My imagination was probably adding special affects because I could scarcely recall my hand ripping out a demon's windpipe. Impossible, of course, because of the denser skin I would never be able to do something so powerful. And downright scary if you ask me.

The more I try to push the thoughts away, the more my imagination picks up. Bright silver cleaving heads and sharp claws severing arteries. It isn't glorious. It isn't pretty. I don't feel powerful or better or safe.

I gather myself out of the water sluggishly. When I found the bank I threw my sorry mess of clothing away from me. The very thought of all that blood, staining my skin, caking on my flesh, It gave me goosebumps, set my heart pounding, and left me feeling paranoid to the ninth degree.

I'm not squeamish or anything but that isn't natural, even for my life.

Several deep breathes, for about ten minutes, and I feel like a can get back up when a sturdy presence brings me back. I sit with my back to the river in my underwear while Sesshomaru stares at me. His gold eyes seem to glow in the dark. My tank and jeans are somewhere to my side, drenched and horribly cold, but I can't bring myself to conjure up a bit of decency.

Those captivating gold eyes of his pin me down like lead weights. Only far less comfortable.

My arms wrap around my torso as I ask, "What is it?" Yeah, I'm blushing. I know it because my face is the hottest part of my body right now.

His movements are graceful, like he's floating towards me. When I have to crane my neck to keep eye contact, he throws something soft and warm at me. It blinds me for a moment and I think _Dammit, now he's going to kill me. _

But it's only a blanket.

Covered and modest to a degree I watch him turn around and walk back into the trees. I stare at my soaked clothes, not going to put them on anytime soon.

With them hanging by the fire they should dry faster. At least the blanket covers me completely. Maybe it belongs to Sesshomaru. Something about the denser skin cells also makes most demons immune to the weather somewhat. Maybe a demon lord would have no use for a blanket. But if that were the case, why would he have one to begin with?

I glanced at the sleeping child. She was safely bundled against the cold in her own fine blanket. The toad didn't seem to need one as he slept freely of anything. Frowning I stared at my guide. He didn't seem like the type to take humiliation in stride. Nor did he appear like he cared what my business was with the well.

_He has his own agenda with the well._ That's safe. Demons always have their own agendas. They follow the basics of Me and Mine, an old understanding between humans and demons. It's older than America so maybe it's something that can be applied to Sesshomaru's breed.

Vaguely he reminded me of Inuyasha. Not by attitudes, certainly not. But there were minor similarities between the two. Their long silver hair, for instance. I had never seen such fine hair on any demon before. Their eyes were the same color, but what did that truly tell me? I frowned harder. It was too hard to comprehend. Not that it matter what his breed was.

_Doesn't it matter? Not all humans are the same, how can you claim that all demons are? Hypocrite. _

Shut up, Conscious, no one asked you.

"It would be best if you sleep while you can. I do not plan on making any stops tomorrow." Sesshomaru said, his eyes still closed and his breathing still mild. I huffed and shuffled against the tree trunk I was against, just out of his reach and more due to his speed.

The two long knives usually strapped to my back where at my side, within easy reach if need be. Though they probably wouldn't do much if Sesshomaru really got serious against me, it was more for a matter of comfort. I was sure he noticed my human comforts.

It took an hour tops before I really feel asleep. The last thing I saw I'm certain was Sesshomaru watching me.

Hiking for hours through a begotten forest in the middle of summer is _not_ fun. I'm not out of shape, I don't hate the outdoors, exercising is good for the soul, and all that jazz. It's just not a blast. It's more like a chore. You have to do it even though you don't want to. Whether it's boring, tedious, repetitive, or just grates on your nerves, it must be done.

Sesshomaru tells me this is the fastest way to the Bone Eaters Well. So this is what must be done. I just don't like it. The toad is like a bee buzzing by my ear, annoying and probably considering stinging me if I try to swat at it. The girl, in all her childish excitement, stays close to Sesshomaru while eyeing me in that curious way children do.

It makes my mouth go dry. I wish she was at the very least wary of me.

But after several hours of the same thing, hiking in utter silence, my guide stops. It's fleeting and if I had not glued my eyes to his back I would have missed it. His head tilts ever so slightly to one side, listening to something I cannot hear. Then he addresses the toad demon, "You will look after Rin and our guest."

Of course I don't like somebody making decisions for me even less than being told what to do. I know, I'm difficult. So I huff at him, "I'm going with you" while at the same time the child squeaks "Yes Lord Sesshomaru." I don't trust the toad as far as I _can _throw him. It would be smarter to stay with them though; Sesshomaru would not leave the child alone in the woods so he would eventually come back.

But if something caught a demon lord's attention I wanted to be sure I knew what it was. Curiosity be damned, if he were meeting with another demon to plot my demise I should know about it, right? It's not paranoia when you're dealing with demons. It's called self-preservation.

"As you wish" he says as if I'm not annoying the hell out of him. The tick in his jaw tells me otherwise.

We walk off without anything else said. The toad only gives a groveling acceptance to his order and the girl sits down to wait. Looks like they've been through this order before. I turn to glare at Sesshomaru's back again. "What is it?" I ask.

"If you do not know, then why did you come?"

I scoff, as if it's that hard to figure out, though truth be I have no idea what I'm doing following him like I am. "I want to see you in action, I suppose."

"So that you may kill me one day?"

For some reason the question catches me off guard. "I hadn't really thought about going out of my way to kill you." He'd be too much for me. He did, after all, kill that horde that was chasing me all on his own. Besides, once I got back to my own time, he would become nothing more than a dream. So why bother with the energy?

My answer doesn't satisfy him. Why should it? "You're lying. Why are you here?"

Well, if he could tell me what he meant by "here" I'd be happy to give him the truth. I mean, "here" in the forest with him, "here" in this era, what? But since I didn't know what he meant I didn't answer.

We come up to a small clearing of trees. It isn't natural; all the trees within a seven foot radius are dried up and dead. Just shriveled up stumps and thin twisted roots left behind by whatever did this. The nearby trees still provided a canopy above the clearing, blocking out the sun to keep this area from sprouting life again.

A chill crept up my spine. Not a good sign. I slip out both knives and flourish them to release some nervous tension, a strange smugness overcoming me when Sesshomaru's eyes follow the movement. Then I slip up against his back. Something is watching us.

A glowing whip appears in his hand in instant later and he flicked it almost experimentally out into the air. Nothing happened. Still there was something out here with us. Something inhuman and wishing to cause me harm, from what my instincts are telling me.

I stood still for five minutes, holding my breath and tensing my muscles. Nothing happened. But it was still too creepy for there not to be something out there. I was sure there was. Slowly I half-turned to Sesshomaru to tell him we should just leave when my voice caught and my eyes widened. He must have sense something because his eyes glance down at me.

"You're bleeding." I said, nodding at his cheek. He brushed it with the back of his hand and tightened his jaw at the sight of a thin line of blood. Nothing serious, but the fact that he never even felt it was foreboding to say the least.

Before I knew what I was doing I reach out toward his cheek, he's still as a statue as he watched me do it. His eyes more on the knife than on me, but I had flattened it mostly to my forearm so I could inspect his cut. But an inch from his pale skin he seized my hand with a swiftness I envied. He turned my hand one way to stare at the back of it and growled, "You too."

Well _that's_ not good. Little nicks and scraps the body can write off as nothing to keep the awareness trained on whatever might actually kill you. But I can still _feel_ those scraps. I register them as meaningless or that I'll get to it later but here, I didn't feel this at all.

Hell's bells, this sucks. Our eyes lock again as recognition settles over us. And I watch with terrible fascination as another tiny strip of blood appears and slowly trickles from a cut on Sesshomaru's neck. His eyes widen, same thing must have happened to me. I pull away from him; keep my back against his, while I crouch into a defensive position. Have to make myself as small a target as possible.

I watch as another strip of blood oozes from my arm. Not. Cool. "Hey, Sesshomaru? Can you see them?"

"No," was his lone reply.

"Then pay close attention, you're demon eyes are better than mine." I slipped under his arm, sticking close to him to stay out of his way, and struck one arm out completely into the air in front of us. Before he could remark, four new injuries appeared from nowhere on my arm. Good, I had almost feared it'd be severed from my body altogether.

Sesshomaru was not one to waste opportunities. His glowing whip struck one of the creatures attacking us. As he lay motionless on the ground I wondered what a puffer fish was doing out of water.

Only its stomach was bare of the quills that adorned it. And it truly looked just like a puffer fish from an aquarium. No weird discoloration, no evil aura, no nasty red eyes, just a normal looking fish - that traveled in a pack of a hundred and could swim in thin air. Awesome.

Sesshomaru made quick work of several more fish and I clutched my arm to my chest. It looked like I got into a fight with a kitten, and it won. I couldn't see the devils, but I swung my blades on the opposite side of Sesshomaru, keeping both sides closed off to attacks. I probably needn't have bothered, but it's not like I'm going to let a demon protect _me_.

To my luck I actually managed to kill a couple.

A cold wind at my back warns me that Sesshomaru has left me. Damn him! To leave my back so defenseless! Not that I normally combat with a demon on _my_ side for starters, I just think he ought to have warn me he was leaving me to die. Can't trust nobody these days.

"Lousy, good for nothing, devil!" I shout for good measure into the darkness of the forest he disappeared to. Stupid demon, and to think I had willingly put my back against his. Albeit for self-preservation of course, but still…How stupid I was to think I could have allowed myself so close to him. To have trusted him to strike the fish down when I sacrificed my own arm to do so.

My parents are probably weeping somewhere.

I shook my head of such nonsense. Doesn't really matter now. The fish are diminishing; I can anticipate where they're going to strike now that I know what I'm dealing with. I don't need that man!

A sharp hiss sings between my teeth before I am flung like a discarded toy into a standing tree and trapped there by some overbearing creature. Damn it all! It hurts like anything to fly into a tree. This is penance for punching the innocent tree earlier, isn't it?

"Such a pretty, little human, and so foolish to be the object of Lord Sesshomaru's demise!" Not a pleasant voice, there's a certain echoing to it too. Creepy and totally like something you'd find on the Sci Fi channel; I snarl at it. Since its missing an elegance to it, I suspect this to be a very average demon and nothing like Sesshomaru at all.

Now here's something I can handle. "**You ought to let me go. I'm not worth it. I'm just a poor, helpless human.**" I can feel him loosen his hold. "**What could you possible gain by holding me against this tree? I can't possible harm you.**" His hand is but a whisper against me. I kick him hard in the shin and he cries out in that creepy way of his. Then I swipe my sword at his stomach. He just barely misses the real sting of my wrath and I only manage to give him a paper cut.

"W-what did you do?" He snaps, but the echo is distorted. I frown, it's like more than one person is asking me these questions.

I'm on the defensive. The demon comes for me while the puffer fish try to target my sides. I don't do the impossible!

When he pins me against a different tree with both hands, I can see how distant and unfocused his gaze is. Well hell's bells, a demon possessed by another demon. Who would have thought of something like that?

"Human bitch," the voices call, "if I could, I'd take my time and _enjoy_ killing you." I knee him in his inner thigh. It isn't as painful as the family jewels, but it does the job. He flinches away, giving me enough wiggle room to plant an elbow in those paper cuts I gave him. When he takes another step back I glide out of his reach.

Maybe it was subconscious that I seem to be going after Sesshomaru. I mean, it wasn't like I need him to take this weakling on for me. Yet I try to run in the direction I saw him leave. Before I could even think about my next move, the demon closes in and throws me down under him. He straddles my stomach, cutting off a good amount of air, as he sneers down. Then he slams my hand down on the ground hard enough for the grip my weapon to slacken.

Weak he is, dumb he is not.

"Stupid human, if it would affect Lord Sesshomaru even the slightest I would torture you until you begged me to stop. But since it won't I can only settle for killing you the most gruesome of ways." His hand on my wrist tightens horribly. It'll break soon; I can feel the bone creaking in my body. Hurts like all hell gets.

But I don't cry out. If I do it'll only please him. Some part of him is controlled by my Influence. But there's another part in there, the whole possessed part of him, that isn't affected much. Not like Sesshomaru, it reaches him, but it's like he can brush the Influence off.

Doesn't matter either way, I'm still stuck. I try to scratch at him with my other knife awkwardly; something sharp coming for the eyes makes anyone move out of the way. Eyes don't really have the same constitution as the denser skin does in demons. Go for the eyes if you're at your last call.

But something cold snaps around my wrist, it doesn't hurt but my body shuts down. The hand that was going for his eyes falls limply to the ground. I frown – try to anyway, the facial muscles don't move. Paralyzed? What for? He could have killed me just as easily as he wished to a second ago. What could he have use for paralyzing me?

I can feel Sesshomaru's eyes on me. I smirk at the sensation, at least I feel like smirking. In such a short time and I already know it's _his_ gold eyes on me. How odd for me to know this demon's presence like I could identify someone like Kagome or Sota, people I've known for years.

Slowly, like drifting on a boat in sewage water and a thick fog, I begin to feel my body responding to me again. I shift into a crouch, my legs safely tucked under me; I have to ignore how much effort it is to do this. Sesshomaru is kneeling close to me, his gaze shifting before I can catch it to the demon in front of us.

This weak demon's smirk really pisses me off. I've been told on many occasions that I am a sore loser. And this demon's going to know the full meaning of that.

When he chuckles it sets my blood to boil.

"What have you done?" Sesshomaru asks it, he voice slowly pulling me to my feet alongside him.

"Those bracelets have sealed your fates" the demon echoes. "Your fate," he points at Sesshomaru, "and the bitch's as well." He only gestures toward me, as if I'm not even worth his time anymore. As if he forgot the beating I dealt him already, regardless of the one I'm about to give him.

"What do you mean?" he inquires. Ah, his voice is tighter. Something about it stokes the hatred inside me for this demon.

"If she dies, so do you. Your lives are now tied together." He chuckles some more. Oh, I've had enough of it!

I charge, setting my knives out at the same time and with a flourish I grant him more than paper cuts. He cries out in surprise and I prefer the sound of it to his disgusting chuckle, so I slice him again in the side. I move quickly out of his grasp and instead cut his entire hand off for his endeavor.

When he clutches at it and cries out again, I kick him in the back. The satisfaction from hearing his "oof" is probably far too much than it should be considering it wasn't much effort to take this thing down. I knee him in the middle of his back, being sure his spine creaks the same way my wrist did when he almost snapped it off.

"Here's how it's going to go," I say as coolly as I can, which is damned cool for how hot I feel. I shove a knife into one hand and another into his forearm to pin him like a biology project. I take up one of the puffer fish from its smooth belly and shove the quills deeply into the shoulder of the demon. A sharp gasp tells me it's going to do the job. "This demon lord is going to ask you some questions," I twist the fish inside his shoulder, "and you're going to answer every single one with the truth." I pick up another fish and stab it into his side, the one I cut up pretty nicely. "Then, I'll let you go."

This close I could really see how messed up this demon was. His eyes start to shift attentions every second; his skin was a sickening, pale, green; one of his horns on the side of his head was missing and his form was more gangly than muscular.

"Bit-"

"And call me that again," I twist the second fish in his wound and he nearly screams at me. "And I'll see to it that you die in your own stinking blood."

Not my first time dealing with Death you see. When I want some damned answers, I make sure I _get _them. Not one of the sorest losers, but you get my point: I like to win.

"Where did you get these bracelets?" Sesshomaru starts the interrogation.

"From the demon Naraku." Huh, his voice isn't so distorted anymore.

"Why does Naraku have them?"

"I d-don't know." It sounds almost… well, _human_ doesn't qualify…

"You said our fates were tied. What did you mean by that?"

When he didn't answer, I stabbed him in the arm that nearly broke my wrist. "H-he said – he said that if a human who wore the pair of the bracelet died, then you would also die. Th-that's all he s-said about it. I s-swear it!"

"How do you get it off?"

"I-I don't know! I didn't ask that!" I really want to twist the fish in his arm, but I'm not cruel. Just cause I'm pissed at him doesn't make my means of interrogation a justifiable reason to punish him further.

You don't shoot the messenger. You just torture him for answers.

"Why hire you?"

"He said he'd give me a fragment of the sacred jewel if I did." Sesshomaru waits, probably already knows the answer to his question anyway. "I-I-I can c-command the tolkies." The puffer fish… How fitting that _they_ would be his demise.

Mr. Demon Lord gives a pause. Probably to make the demon sweat, no doubt. I can respect that he knows how to play this right. The whole good-demon-bad-executioner thing. "Who made the bracelets?"

The demon glared at Sesshomaru, I huff a tired laugh and finally got to twist the quills. He grunted and whimpered at the same time, an odd sound and it's almost too slow. Maybe now that he's no longer possessed – which a reasonable conclusion since there's just the one voice – he feels the drag of it on his mind. I've seen possessed people once the demon's gone, they just pass out for days sometimes. Some might go into a coma, and some don't ever make it out. "Dammit, bit…" He grits his teeth when I show him the next puffer fish, but I don't shove it into him yet. "I don't know, but Naraku said he got it from a demon named Kyouryoku – who gave it to him to gain favor most likely."

Sesshomaru frowned, a subtle change in his eyebrows, probably my signal that he got what he needed. I drop the fish right next to the demon, scratching part of his ugly nose off. Then I snatched up my blades, at an angle just to hear him squeal, and quickly got out of his reach and stood behind Sesshomaru.

He sneered at me. "Human bitch," he snarled, his voice scratchy and hoarse. His eyes dart around sporadically, and its unhealthy how sweaty he is. "You'll die soon. Very soon. You're just a fragile, worthless human. If Naraku wishes you dead, you will be."

"And you're still standing here. Outnumbered and pissing me off." I snap as I stuck my nose in the air. Once he turned around it wouldn't matter what he called me.

He gave me a lecherous sneer before stumbling away. When he probably felt safe, I watched soundlessly while Sesshomaru sent the demon to hell with that glowing whip of his. A swelling began in my chest but I squeezed it down. I suspected Sesshomaru wouldn't let the thing go. And I kept my word to the very end. He died in his own blood for calling me what he did.

I turned to get back the way we'd come when Sesshomaru's deep voice forced me to look back at him. "Demons do not frighten you. You seemed to be in no need of practice when procuring information from them. And you are trained in your weapons and in demon sparring tactics."

I gulped.

"It was no concern of mine who you are, and how you learned these things." He held his hand up, a bracelet made of what looked like mother of pearl shimmered in the faint light streaming through the canopy.

I stared down at my own hand, its pair baring my wrist. So the demon hadn't been trying to break bones. He had been forcing jewelry on me. I frowned at it, not a string of little balls of pearl; I mean to say that the entire band glowed iridescently like pearls did. And something in the back of my mind was hissing and raising its fur at the bracelet. Demon jewelry, what else could there be?

"Was?" I asked, afraid of what his next words were.

"That demon said that if you die, I die." He glared at me and it nearly left me shaking. "So, from now until I can find Kyouryoku you will not be out of my sight."

A bit of my flare came back with a vengeance at him for just deciding all this. "I'm not helpless. I can take care of a few demons sent my way. All I need to do is get back to that stupid well and I will no longer be in your service."

"You do not understand the gravity of our situation." His chilling voice never raises, never wavers as he moves toward me, all quiet stealth and deadly grace, forcing me to hold my breath for no reason at all. "If Naraku means for this to prelude my demise it means he is not toying with me. How well can you stand against a hundred demons? Because if he believes that is what it will take, he will do it." I hate it when demons make logical sense.

"Well, for now we're traveling together anyway," I sigh as if being with him is of no skin off my back, which it may well be one day. "Do you know where this Kyouryoku guy lives?"

I've learned to watch Sesshomaru for the subtle changes toward his mood. He isn't the only guy I've come across with expression issues. He looked off to the west, the direction we were heading towards Kagome and her accursed well. "It would seem," he said still looking far away, "that fate would be on our side."

**How am I doing so far? Everyone excited about their relationship? Anyone wanted to know how Sesshomaru plans to get rid of it? And what about Kagome… Ah, who cares about Kagome?  
>Seriously, y'all have to tell me what's up! What do you like? What don't you like? What would you like to see happen? How's the OC fitting in?<br>You have free will and I'm asking for your opinions! How could you pass this up! ^_^**


	5. A Promise is a Promise

**I'm feeling charitable. I'm swamped with school so the updates will probably be few and far between until I'm done with the semester. I figured I should warn y'all, but I absolutely refuse to put up an "Author's Note" cause that's like lying. I mean, you see in your inbox that the story has a new chapter posted and you're all like "YAY! A NEW CHAPTER!" and then you click and all it's just some stupid note of like a hundred words saying that there won't be any chapters up soon. What a joke right! So please enjoy this chapter while you keep in mind that it'll be some time before something else comes up. **

**Please write a review, of course, telling me how much you love me and my stuff and maybe, just maybe I'll procrastinate and give y'all something before Thanksgiving! **

A Promise is a Promise, but an Oath is better

So not only did I wind up a three day hike away from Kagome, her half demon, and that stupid well, I also managed to pass over a mountain the size of Colorado. I mean, now I'm confused as all hell. First, I get the stupid pebble from Sango, and then I run for my very human life, passing a freaking mountain and right into a demon lord's territory, where said demon lord pulverizes the demons chasing me to obtain this stupid pebble and I get drenched in demon blood. Next I trick said demon lord into guiding me back to Kagome so I can drag her with me back to our time, where everything – including the demons – makes more sense.

Then, this magical well of begotten misfortune is meeting my best friend: TNT. That's right; this wormhole is going to be blasted to the ends of the universe by the time I'm done with it!

My whole story is sounding far more impossible the longer it takes me to get back to Kagome. I mean, _I get knocked out. _Okay, how? _The jewel must have messed with your psyche when it entered your body._ Yeah, that's one that still needs work. I mean, this pebble was _inside_ my chest! Solid objects don't just ignore the laws of physics! There's skin and tissue and muscle there that should have kept the shiny rock from doing what it did.

_Yet, it was there. You pulled it out yourself. _

I want to go home.

But of course, none of my wishes are going to come true so long as I'm tied to Mr. Demon Lord by some snazzy bracelet. A lightweight, scrap of iridescent mortification now molded with no way of coming off around my wrist. And if I die, oh yeah, Mr. Demon Lord dies too. Seriously, who makes this stuff up?

Because of the foreboding thought of being tied to a human, Mr. Demon Lord wants us separated as soon as possible. On _that_ we are agreed. What I don't like is that Mr. Demon Lord also does not want me out of his sight. You know, in case I'm so inept in my humanity that I walk off a cliff and inconvenience him anymore.

So now we're off to see Kyouryoku, the wizard who gave our matching jewelry to this Naraku: Demon Bad Ass of the era. If he can get it off us, then by George everything will be peachy keen.

Hey, I'm a pessimist by nature.

I am an Executioner after all. A couple steps above demon slayer and a hair fracture away from psychotic serial killer. See, warm fuzzy thoughts all around.

But back to my current predicament, this wizard lives in the mountains I mentioned earlier. The mountains I skimmed right by on my way to Mr. Demon Lord's territory, where all the _real _trouble started.

Oh, and Mr. Demon Lord? Yeah, he's just this super-amazing, super-arrogant, super-swift, and oh-so-super-amazing demon I'm bounded to in magical matrimony – with a cuff instead of a ball and chain. He's deadly, in that I could just stare at him all day and not get bored kind of way. He's voice is like silk smooth, soft, and easy to slip around your throat and kill you.

He's got a real name. But in my mind he's just a demon lord lugging around a human stuck in the crossfire of a demon power struggle. That's right, though I wasn't actually told any of this by Mr. Demon Lord himself, it happens all the time really. You'd think in several hundred years the demons would have changed. Oh no, same dog, same tricks, just with a bitter streak that runs for several hundred years instead of just the few hundred they have right now.

Power struggle here, territory invasion there, mate challenge here, and plots to force the humans into servitude there. It's kind of my thing, a demon specialist. I doubt there's one during feudal era Japan, so I guess I should keep all my knowledge to myself. Don't want them to think I'm _special_ or anything. Don't want anymore demon attention on me now than there already is.

"So, Miss Katsumi," I hear through the dark and brooding thoughts, "what's your favorite flower?"

I stare down at the little girl, can't be no more than twelve. She's Mr. Demon Lord's pet, I suppose. He cares about her – not hard to figure out there – and indulges her and talks to her with the barest of softness to his voice he allows for no one else. She's his pride and joy, as far as demons having those things. But if you so much as look at her wrong… well, he's got this maddening glare saved up for those folks.

So I smile while closing my mouth and eyes. Be polite and indulge the girl, just like Mr. Demon Lord. "Hydrangeas," I say to please the girl. When I had tried ignoring her, Mr. Demon Lord thought to make aware how rude I was to her. Such a scary glare that man has… At least her questions are easy to answer, if they are useless. I glance at her confused expression and explain myself, "It is a flower meant to show your true emotions." Though it only worked for humans, I still found the principle to be rather interesting.

The child still looks confused. But she smiles when she tells me her favorite flower – though I did not ask for it, "I like sunflowers."

"Sunflowers are pretty," I say after I watch Mr. Demon Lord turn every-so-slightly in our direction.

She nods excitedly, "What's your favorite color?"

"Black," I answer. Never thought much of a favorite color before, but black is practical. In my line of work it's safe to wear for whatever you're gunning for that night. Plus it's good camouflage against the keen eye of demons.

She smiles as if this is the best news in the world. Same smile for when I said my favorite pastime was cleaning my dual knives. "Mine's pink."

"That's a very girly color," I remark. I don't spend a lot of time with children, alright! I don't really care much for them. Killing demons for a living is what I do; it's how I've lived my entire life. Children don't belong in this dark world of mine. Yet, here's a little girl who simply adorns this nasty, arrogant demon lord. Who seems to make it his life's goal to be very sure I treat this girl with the utmost respect.

It's all very confusing stuff.

But Rin, that's her name with no last name, she just laughs as if I've shared a secret with her. "What's your favorite animal?"

I frown. Don't think much on animals either. "Can I have two?" I ask. Children's games are hard. The rules change to their liking much more than to yours.

"Sure!"

"Alright then, I like dogs and cats just as much." They're good pets to keep. Dogs and cats are subtle enough to keep in society and they can sense evil. Cats are more sensitive to the stench of evil than dogs, but both breeds have saved my neck several times. For some reason I can't fathom I tell her "I have a cat bigger than that toad named Griffin."

Rin made a sound of admiration, though I could scarcely guess from what, before she giggles some more, "Bigger than Jaken? That's so cool! Is he pretty?"

"Very pretty. He has long black and brown fur and can purr up a storm like no other cat I know," I sigh. Suddenly I miss him very much.

Rin seems to know that talking about Griffin upsets me somewhat and changes the subject, "I like bunnies."

"Bunnies are cute," I didn't have the heart to remind her than our lunch had been bunny. Well, not true, I mean I have the heart to do something mean like that. But Mr. Demon Lord was listening and if I made Rin cry, then magical bond or not he'd kill me where I stood.

Maybe not kill. He'd slice my arm off, that's for sure. So long as I didn't die he'd have nothing to worry about.

Rin giggled some more and I wished Mr. Demon Lord would call her away from me. She'd do whatever he'd said, no matter what. I can read it in her eyes she'd follow her lord to the ends of the earth if he wished it so.

I glanced at the green toad demon struggling to stay in stride with his master. Short, stocky, and has a voice like gravel in a blender, he's Mr. Demon Lord's aid and advisor. He's also missing a chunk out of his left ear when he called me "bitch" to my face. Probably from the demon lord's request, the toad looked after Rin. He should have kept her from me.

But no one was saving me from the girl's insistent interrogating. Rin kept right on me, as if she saved all these questions and fired them away when she became comfortable with someone new to their party. "Why do you have those swords?"

"To kill demons with."

"You kill demons?"

"Yes."

She gave a small, "eek" before she gave me her most daring glare. "You can't kill Lord Sesshomaru!"

"I know."

She puffed her cheeks out as if that was more intimidating.

The toad, in all his screeching, jabbed "She couldn't kill Lord Sesshomaru even if she'd tried!"

"Jaken."

It was one word, spoken softly in a voice of cold indifference. But there was warning to it, in this one word the toad froze and shut his duck lips so fast I wondered if he hurt himself. Sesshomaru, AKA Mr. Demon Lord, walked forward as if unconcerned with the might his voice held. It bothered me, how beautifully deadly this demon was. Death wrapped up in a lovely and elegant package.

He had grace, that aristocratic air about him, a marvelous appearance, and poison claws and a glowing whip of instant death. Not to mention his swords, long and sharp, at his hip. His flowing silver hair went on for leagues, rolling in the mountain's wind.

_Back off wind! He's mine!_

Shut up Conscious, no one's paying any attention to you.

I look at Rin because I sense her eyes still on me. "You promise you won't kill him?" It catches me so off guard I can only blink at her.

"W-what?" I already told her I couldn't do it. Why would she make me do something like promise I _wouldn't _kill a demon? It's what I do, kill demons. It's what I've done all my life.

She holds out her pinky to me. Her unshed tears gleaming in the sun pull me to a stop. I've _never_ seen a human cry over a demon. Never.

"You have to promise not to kill Lord Sesshomaru." She thrust her pinky closer to me. I kneel down to eye level with the child. She's more likely ten than twelve, too underdeveloped in her body and her eyes are too big to be on the verge of teenhood. "Promise!" she commands.

I grasp her hand, closing it over the pinky. "Promises are empty, girl." Before she starts to cry I take out a switchblade strapped somewhere on my body –no one needs to know where – and I hold it out to the girl after I trigger the blade. She takes a step back, but my hold on her hand stops her. "You would need me to swear it. An oath over something I hold important to me and me alone. _That_ would hold faster than a pinky promise."

Her eyes are hard and I feel sorry for her. I make her look that way. She should be laughing and giggling and asking me stupid questions I've never asked myself. "Now," I lock her small hand under mine to grip the switchblade and hold my other hand out, palm up to her, "You must have me swear on something important to me, do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nods, "Miss Katsumi, swear that you will not kill Lord Sesshomaru. Swear on," she frowns, her tears nearly spilling over her cheeks, "Swear on the life of Griffin."

It's a good swear. The kid knew I loved my cat. Probably from the weird way kids just know certain things; sometime they can sense evil like animals. But they're not always reliable. She's a sharp kid. Smart and crafty she picked up from the little I mentioned about my cat to her that I care enough about him that swearing on his life would be a heavy oath indeed.

With our hands wrapped together around the worn handle, we make a shallow cut on my palm, showing her the mark as I say "I so swear to you that on the life of Griffin I will not kill Sesshomaru." The mark begins to burn and I pull out a scrap of cloth from my back pocket to wrap around it. I replace the switchblade and finally meet Rin's eyes.

Her nod is shaky but she wipes her tears away as I stand up and begin to walk away from her. Jaken stares with wide yellow eyes at me as I move past him. He's stuttering and seems to have trouble making complete sentences. But I ignore him, it's way better than having him screech at me.

When I get to Sessomaru his gold eyes are hard with mistrust, his face for confusion. He has to ask, "Why did you do that?" Really he's asking: _What are your motives_? I'm not stupid. What I just did, it wasn't for Rin's wellbeing.

I stare at him, freezing in place right next to him. What can I say to him? _I'm indulging her, just as you want. I'm putting her unreasonable fears to rest. It's only the truth; I cannot kill you. _It seems so pathetic to try and explain what I just did. I made an unbreakable oath to an eight year old girl to _not_ kill her demon master. No lying, no Influence, no rationalizations can eradicate what I did.

Not that I would, it would sully the oath if I tried to back out of it in anyway. It would put my Maine Coon's soul on the line. My luck would run dry. Karma would come for me with a vengeance. The repercussions are tremendous for breaking a blood oath. I paid my words with my own blood and with the name of my best friend.

No, I wouldn't ignore my oath to Rin.

But I don't have to explain myself either.

"She needs to be taught the difference between a promise and a swear. If she is to spend the rest of her life with a demon, it is something she must know." I turn to go but his hand wraps around my entire wrist. His skin is hot, almost scalding and his grip is firm but doesn't hurt. When I look back at him, his eyes are hotter than lava and his face is far too close than my comfort level permits.

"You swore on your own blood," I know he wants to finish the sentence _to not kill me_, but he doesn't. Pride holds his tongue at bay.

"I did."

He wants to ask _why_, but he only glares at me. His gaze is focused and sharp and so intense I can feel my body respond to it. I'm not sure what he's doing to me though. I want to run away but I am drawn closer. I want to wrestle my arm back but I ache to hold him in my arms. I want to scream and curse and hurt him with empty words, I can feel a sob burning the back of my throat.

What is he doing to me?

Finally, after a lifetime of this sensation he lets me go and lets me walk ahead of him. I don't know where we're going but it's like he's granting me some form of privacy. My chest aches and I bite my lip to control the phantom sob. I don't like whatever it is he's doing to me.

From far away I can hear Jaken comforting Rin, "Tis best to leave the Lady alone, Rin."

I've crush something innocent inside her. This child who takes the company of a demon lord and a toad demon, who smiles and giggles and asks silly questions, she is not the same as she was when she woke up this morning. And that is because I had to show her a part of my world children have no business in.

We are camping in a cave Sesshomaru found. Rin and Jaken are already asleep, but I cannot. I toss and turn on the hard rock of the mountains; it's ten-times worse than on the cold dirt of the forest. But there are these horrible nightmares that await me when I close my eyes. Creatures that have no business being alive taunt me in there impossibility and haunt me with there claws that catch and fangs that bite. In the dark of the night – usually it's somewhere between one and three in the morning – the badest of the bad and the ugliest of the ugly come out.

I've seen a handful of the badest and the ugliest in my scarce seventeen years of executing – starting at age five. None of it ever truly leaves you. And right now I can feel the walking nightmares and the shimmering memories scratching at my conscious like a cat at the door. I'm in the in-between of sleep and wake, when I am just barely at my weakest.

I sit up with a sharp start. Whiplash and dizziness wash over me, smearing the fragments of my fears into a great messy nothingness, like kindergarten artwork. Nothing's tangible, nothing I can hold onto or push away, like a dream you're trying to remember.

When the fog clears and my vision is on the present I catch Sesshomaru's darken eyes. "You should sleep," he says.

I shrug, "Not tonight." It would be bad to sleep when the nightmares are so insistent they come for me before I even black out.

He looks away, the ending of that conversation. We are quiet for a long time before I ask, "Do you ever sleep?" One eyebrow rises into the thick cascade of silver hair.

Before I press him, because now I'm curious, he says "I need less sleep than humans."

"So you do sleep. How much do you need?"

"I can go days without sleeping."

"You don't eat much either, do you?"

He finally looks at me. I expected him to be agitated by my questioning but his face is stony, not threatening when he agrees "I don't eat human food and I need less sustenance than humans do."

"What do you eat?" I'm not sure why, but talking to him about himself seems to calm me down.

"Women who threaten me," his sharp eyes gleam in the low firelight. It's a devastating sight.

"So you don't eat much then." I concluded with a playful smirk.

"Why do you say that?"

I scoff, "As if you don't know!" I watch that eyebrow move again. "Seriously, you don't see it? Women would more likely throw themselves at you than attack you." I look away, hoping the firelight hides my blush.

He is so quiet I bet he's done talking about himself. When I look back at him he continues, as if he were waiting for me to look back. "Women do tend to do that." He faces the fire but I just know his eyes are still on me. "I can count the number of women to have attack me on one hand."

I grin, flashing him teeth in pride as I do it. _I'm_ one of those women he'll always remember. How endearing. His stare turns icy but I'm in far too good a mood for it to affect me. Until he says, "Of course those same women are found throwing themselves at me in the end."

The words sound like a dooming prophecy. They snare my voice and I feel breathless for a second. _What the hell!_ "I doubt they have such weak morals." I say but it doesn't matter. I froze and he saw it. And it may have been just the firelight, but I'm sure I saw him smirk at me.

She never fell asleep. I watch and wait but she does not accomplish much. Her body is fitful and her breathing is frustrated. I can smell fear and adrenaline and something close to agitation. How very odd to have one creature feel such things all at once. There must be a reason for my constant hovering over her, but for the life of me I know not what it is that drives me to keep staring.

It is such an inconvenience to be bounded to her as I am now. Though it is not her fault I cannot help but be disconcerted by her very presence. She is a distraction and now a hindrance I cannot afford. Naraku was clever in his tactic, I can evaluate that much. His intended for the other bracelet though must have been my ward, not this wispy, smart-mouth, unpredictable woman.

I must be grateful to fate that Rin was not caught in Naraku's trap.

But this woman, she is a dilemma. Human by every outward appearance and remark, but there is something underneath I do not trust about her. There are things she can do, things she knows that she shouldn't. Her comfort levels with demons are troublesome. She knows their weaknesses in battle and moves with the grace of one _alive_ in the art.

Her Influence disconcerts me. She is a manipulator; I have seen them before, but all were demons. It is the way she wields her powers too, as if it were one more knife in her arsenal. Her words are as deadly as the bright blades she commands like a part of her body. When she first used it on me, it was like something warm was pressing against my skull. It did not appear evil, nor did my defenses say it was so, but I knew there was something unnatural about a human holding power over me.

It matters not what oaths she spins or lies she swears, this woman is misfortune brought to me by the very fates that keep Rin out of Naraku's hands.

I can still hear her dark voice caressing my memory, _I so swear to you that on the life of Griffin I will not kill Sesshomaru_. There is power in her blood oath. She cannot break such a vow and she knows it. Though it is obvious that she would not last in a fight against me, there is something to be said about the way she spoke to Rin. In the way she truly believed and honored every word that passed her dusted pink lips.

Of course there may be a part of her that merely did it to please Rin. She was next to me when the minion spoke of the power the band wields over us. If I were to die then so would she. So killing me would not be in her best interest. There was no need for her to make an oath to Rin.

Yet she did so with very little hesitation to it. Conviction and honor, very little humans own such characteristics. However, I am beginning to realize she is not like the humans I have come to understand. In some aspects I am reminded of the girl who travels with my little brother. Though there is near to no physical distinction between them, I think they may be of the same timeline.

Her clothing is foreign and strange. Few women wear trousers, and they only do so if it were a uniform of their occupation – such as the hunter's. But this woman's is strange. Her trousers are coarse and tough, expertly made for one in hard labor, though her blouse is thin and gives no protection of any kind.

Also, she is looking for the Bone Eaters Well and there is where the girl usually spends most of her time resting with my little brother. It is logical to consider that due to the fact she is also carrying the sacred jewel, the two of them traveled through the well together.

Irresponsible on the girl's end, allowing _this woman_ within our realm to wreak havoc and chaos in her wake. Spilling the blood of a great many demons in such a quick span of time and to have no recollection of it, unnerving. Though little can be done about it now, she _is_ attempting to get back at the best to her abilities.

It is probably preferable that I came across her before another lord did. If another had witnessed the carnage she poured over the earth, she would have either been executed immediately or sold into the slave chain and passed through the arena's system. To live the rest of her human existence as a killing entertainment for the sloth of the lords and ladies. Disgusting disgraces.

She squirms again, no sound leaving her but the shift of fabric against stone. I watch every movement until she lays still again, her breathing too deep and even to tell of sleep. She is afraid of whatever nightmare is lurking within her mind and by her lack of frustration it appears this is not her first restless night of invisible terrors.

_If she dies you die. Your fates are now tied together._

Had it just been fate I would have been able to save us both from this situation. No, there is something else at work here. There must be a reason I found her in that bloodbath, why I agreed to take her back to the well, why she followed me into that dead space in the forest, and why she was the human I must be tied to. Rin had to have been Naraku's immediate choice when he first acquired a meaning to the bands. But the minion was too crazed to know that there was another human beyond the one he saw.

I could feel a twitch in my jaw. If Kagura had not shown up this whole mess wouldn't have happened. She lured me away from her, to leave her with the minion.

"_I'm surprised by how friendly you are with the humans, Sesshomaru." Her sultry tone lifting in good humor as she eyes him with that hungry gaze of hers, a cat eyeing cream. "Is she another charity case? Or are you now offering your services to help the poor and the helpless?" _

"_What are you doing here? You and I should have no more qualms with each other." _

"_I've come baring a gift." She holds a shiny cuff, the kind humans adorn as decoration in her tiny hand. She twists it and the band catches the light filtering in through the canopy. _

"_I've no need of gifts." It's a small movement, one that I know she watches with heightened senses, as I slowly reach for my sword. She is not here to fight, I can smell it on her, but I don't know what her true motives are. And rarely whenever Kagura shows up does she just offer me a gift without payment on her end. _

_She pouts; it's not attractive or strong for her to act like a jilted woman. "Don't be so harsh, after I practically _gave_ you that fancy sword of yours. Relax, this is a mere peace offering from one friend to another."_

"_Do not waste my time, Kagura." _

"_How long will that little wisp last? Do you know what you left her with?" She purrs the words as if she can hear the screams already. "You left her all alone, or so you think, unguarded and out of her league."_

_I clench my teeth but relax the muscles before she notices, "What are you trying to do?" _

_She shrugs, "Nothing too awful. It's just one little human. The world can do without her, yes? You know they crop up like insects, it's near impossible to exterminate them."_

_I feel a falling sensation, like the very earth was pulled from under my very feet. I do not like what she is implying. Though I may know nothing about that woman who threatened me, the farthest thing I want right now is for her to die at some minion's worthless hands. I turn to leave Kagura in her riddles and schemes, but I realize my mistake the second it's been made. Too late to stop Kagura from flashing into my personal space. She slips the band around my wrist just as I make it back where I left the woman. _

_She's paralyzed, I understand in the same second that I am as well. She has the matching set on her own wrist and a darkened bruise is blooming on her shoulder. It is puzzling that this is all she gathered in her time alone. By all reason she should be dead. _

If I had not been so mislead I would have been able to see what Kagura had planned. I would not have subjected myself to such humility. And this human would have been spared the favor of fate.

What could it mean, for our fates to be bound in such a way? It is not my place to ask such things, nor do I think too often what fate is thinking. For reasons unfathomable to me, we are where we are and there is little to do about it now but find Kyouryoku and by whatever means possible force him to unbind us.

Whatever the cost I will not allow the woman to be trapped in my world any longer than she need to be.


	6. Kyouryoku of the Mountains

**I knew it. I knew this would happen. Should have been writing a paper, but instead I find myself updating and working on my fanfiction. Well, Happy Halloween Readers! Hope you guys enjoy this little surprise. I mean, _I_ was surprised I got it done. **

**So let me know what you think of new characters, please/thank you! **

**Also, do let me know how much you love my work. Maybe I'll procrastinate some more and you'll get another little surprise like this one! **

Kyouryoku of the Mountains

"Oh, yeah. This looks like a demon's dwelling to me." Sesshomaru the ever-so-charming and scowling demon lord glances at me, raising one eyebrow ever so slightly. "Yes, that's sarcasm," I sigh.

"You seem to speak in this tone quite often." He remarks as he turns away from me to enter the cave. We're in a clearing, surrounded my blossoming trees, of what flower I have no idea. Rin and Jaken are settling in to wait while Sesshomaru goes inside to do whatever demon lords do when they've been tricked into a magical and horrifying pack, binding his very life with my own.

I shake my hand and watch the iridescent colors flicker and shimmer. "It's another defense mechanism of mine." I glare at him from the corner of my eye. "So you're just going to walk into another demon's _home_" – and I use the term _very_ loosely – "and threaten said demon into telling you everything he knows about our matching set, including but not limiting to, how to get it off short of cutting my hand off?"

"Yes," he says, calm and collected, not a wavering to his resolve. He moves to leaves us.

I sigh again and play with the demon jewelry. It's not everyday I'm stuck to some deliciously, devilish man, and I'm not one to cling, but something about being away from Sesshomaru unsettles me. I feel a tingle race up my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck raise like a mutt's hackles. Funny, same feeling I get when I'm in mortal danger…

"Hey, Sesshomaru?" he stops, a small jerking motion, like he wasn't expecting it. "You sure I can't come along?"

He turns to look back at me and those gold eyes hold me by my next breath just like they always do. I have little control over the impact he has over my body, and frankly it's becoming far more difficult to fight it. I want to fall into his arms, have him hold me down, wrap a strong hand around my throat and choke all the damned air out of me until all I can feel and smell and breathe is _him._

But I'm not so far gone in his enthralling power I'd let him _know_ any of that.

He sounds like he's chastising Rin for picking a poisonous mushroom, "This demon feasts on the live flesh of human women. At the very sight of you he would loose himself to his primal desires and he will be of no use to me in that state."

I give him a frustrated groan, "Alright already. Just get it over with as soon as possible." I look away before I do something _really_ foolish, like blush in front of him or something.

**KyouryokuoftheMountains**

I leave her and it unnerves me. What kind of trouble will she get into while I'm gone? She won't be of any harm to Rin, but there was always the possibility that she may end up killing Jaken. Either way, there is something about her that troubles my well-being. I would not go so far as to say she troubled me, or bothered me, or annoyed me, but there is something there. Something in the way she spoke, in the way she moved, in the way she watched me.

Though many females look at me in that same smitten way, she _watched_ me. Like a wild cat stalking prey, she was patient and alert. And though as refreshing as it was to see her eyes on me like that, I found a mild desire to know how she'd look at me with longing instead of tense focus.

A low rumble echoed and reverberated around the rough walls of Kyouryoku's dwelling. My thoughts of a particular woman momentarily push to the back of my awareness. It hasn't disappeared, eventually it will be back to eat at my consciousness. Until then I had a situation to deal with and people waiting for me in the sunlight.

It's longer than I first determined, this cave only went one way though. There were no turns or twists or crevasses. It seemed rather foolish on this demon's part to have such an obvious and predictable dwelling.

After a time I reached the one dead end, where a giant beast sleeps deeply on a bed of the plum blossoms that bloomed right on his doorstep. Sunlight peeked through small holes within this small cavern where as it was pitch dark the complete way here. The demon appeared to take the form of a bear for the time being. I frowned; it would be problematic if he were in a true bear's form for I did not speak bear.

"Kyouryoku" I said, my voice did not echo nor vibrate throughout the dwelling, but the beast stilled nonetheless.

It snarled, "Five more minutes, Mom!" then it rolled over and covered its furry head with both clawed hands.

My frowned deepened. "Kyouryoku, I am Sesshomaru and I have something that belongs to you."

It flinched at the sound of my name, like few demons did if they did not run screeching first. "Damn it all." It snapped as it turned back towards me, its beastly jaw jumbled the syllables and it slurred all its words together. "I'd-not-'ave time todeal with-eu, Brat."

No, not some common demon. "Excuse me?"

"Eu-'eard-me, boy. I'm-too old 'or er stupidity 'nd childish tantrums, nor do I 'ave tè time to clean-up er messes. Leave me inpeace-'nd go about er business. Eu'll find tè wayout tè sameway eu camein." Kyouryoku grumbled as it puts both hands under its head and closed its black eyes. He grumbled under his breathe again and the sound of bones creaking made my ears twitch, he was morphing his jaw.

"You have me mistaken for another, Kyouryoku. I have come here to speak about-"

"You've got problems, so does the whole damn world. I no longer care about this world or its problems-" he narrowed his eyes at the sight of my blade at his throat. He snarled his fangs too long and too sharp to belong to a bear. And his jaw had moved to form one closer to a man's.

"What do you know about this?" I hold my hand up by my face. He eyes narrowed further to slits of onyx.

"Well, damn, that's a mighty fine problem."

I waited for him to say more, but he doesn't. I can't very well kill him now, being the only lead I have to getting the bracelet removed, and he knows this. "You know this object."

"Yeah, of course I do or you wouldn't be here, huh?"

"There is another on a human woman."

I frown as he smirks but it's deformed since his mouth and lips are reforming even now. "So I take it your lives are linked together and you know that if she dies so do you?"

"Yes, a minion of Naraku said as much. He also mentioned you gave these bracelets to Naraku."

"Can't trust no one these days." He growls but there's no venom in the words. "So you want it off, that it?"

"Sesshomaru!"

Troublesome woman.

"What the hell are you doing?" She snaps as she looks from me, down the length of the sword, to the bear. "I bet you're as pissed about this as much as me, but he's not going to tell you anything with you threatening him."

Foolish woman. Why does she never do what she's told?

"You've brought the young girl with you, Sesshomaru?" the bear questions with genuine curiosity. Its face looses the smirk, hiding the fangs as it addresses the woman, "What do you want, girl?'

"Just to get this _thing_ off me." She holds her hand out but not within the bear's reach. At the very least she stays by my side and away from the demon. Not completely inept.

To my utter surprise the bear leans closer to her and glances at the unbreakable band glittering on her wrist innocently. He hums thoughtfully as he sits back and rolls his head as if it were too much effort to hold it up to speak to us. "Well that's not going to happen anytime soon, girl."

She bristles, a shiver of rage that ripples through all her muscles, I can feel the shudder along my arm. "Well that's a problem 'cause I want it off now."

"Kids today," Kyouryoku sighs. "Listen, girl, I can't get it off you right now. Yeah, I made the damned thing, but I don't do in removals. That's **C****himitsu's department." She huffs at him and he continues, "My sister, she can get it off you. But she dwells in the mountains in the far western lands. And that's why it won't be anytime soon." **

"**Chimitsu" She repeats, logging the name somewhere in that complicated mind of hers. "Why'd you give this thing to Ne-ru-kò****?" **

**The demon snickers, "Girl, you must be pretty stupid or pretty fearless to go about mispronouncing his name like that." **

**I watch her grin, full of teeth and devious intent. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that line." Ah, there's that sarcasm again. But it's lighter than when she talks to me. **

**"Yes, I bet you do." He snickers some more as he sits up on his large back legs. "He came to me with a proposition…"**

**"_You can join me, _**_Kyouryoku. With a demon of your talents I could use you in the battle for the world."_

"_It's a big world for just one man." _

_The creature before him, a mysterious demon cloaked in illusions and a baboon skin answered, "But I have a purpose for every inch of it. You will think about my offer, won't you Kyouryoku?" He pauses, expecting him to give him the confirmation he wants, then, "It'd be a shame if anything were to happen to that lovely sister of yours, wouldn't it? If something were to happen I doubt you'd be able to do anything about it, being that you live so far away." _

_He barked a laugh, "If you think idle threats are the way to go about getting my help-"_

"_Idle?" he questioned in that same calm, pleasant voice. "What makes you think it's idle?"_

"_You obviously don't know anything about my sister if you think she needs me to protect her." He doesn't know how, but he knows the creature is smiling at him. _

_His feeling is confirmed when it speaks again, "But it would shame you if she died because of some indirect way that lead to you, would it not." _

_Kyouryoku spat a curse at the creature. "You youngsters think you know it all, don't you? What do you want from me specifically?"_

_The creature stood straighter; somewhat pleased it got what it wanted. "You are a master jeweler, are you not? Specializing in magical charms and the like?" It did not wait for a reply. "There is an object in your possession I have need for, a pair if I'm not mistake. It is meant to bind an immortal being to the world of the mortals." _

_Kyouryoku scratched at his chin, he knew of which objects the creature spoke of, but he let the thing in the baboon skin wait as he pondered. It would be best to play along and keep Chimitsu safe for now. "I have just the thing you're looking – I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name, Mr. Employer." _

"_Naraku, call me Naraku." Its voice is lighter, haughtier, it got what it wanted and now it was getting cocky. "I will send one of my companions to fetch the jewelry tomorrow at sunset, it best be ready by then." _

The woman sighs, "He threatens your little sister and you're molding clay in his hands. How sentimental." There is that sarcasm again, sharp and unpleasant as ever. "Can't say I blame you, of course, but I've never heard of a demon caring so much for someone other than itself."

"Foolish child," the bear that is not a bear snarls, "Do you think we demons harbor nothing for our blood-kin? She is my sister, blood of blood; of course I would do whatever possible to keep her safe, as I'd do the same for my mate." He sounds bitter, nearly angry at the thought that she had suggested he be heartless. By now his words are articulate and pronounced with precision.

"It just sounds so…" she stares at the giant bear with sharp, intelligent eyes, "human."

Kyouryoku huffs at her as he settles back onto his belly, "It is not so bad… to be human." It grumbles low to itself.

"So your sister in the **S****atsugai Mountains will be able to remove the bands without harm to the woman?" **

**The bear stares ****at me with a bored expression. "Yes, brat. That is the gist of it." **

**She snickers. A small sound she tries**** to cover with her hand, a small sound that burns my ears, a sound that echoes inside the cave and around my head. "Brat." She snorts and looks away as she ****_tries_**** to contain herself. **

**The demon glances**** at her and its expression softens. "Girl," she stills and looks at him, "You are a strong, little thing, aren't you?" It smirks with ugly fangs but she isn't afraid. "He will need you, so don't get yourself killed during this journey." **

**I expect some more sarcasm, something absurd and harsh, but she only frowns and nods at Kyouryoku. "It's time you scram." He says addressing me again with that same cold, unconcerned**** look in his black eyes. **

**KyouryokuoftheMountains**

**"Before you say anything about not listening to you****, save the effort, I'm not going to listen." I snap as soon as we reached the afternoon light at the mouth of the cave. I could feel the murderous aura rolling off him in waves. It would be best to get it all out now and in the open before there were any more misunderstandings. "I couldn't really help myself." **

**He glances at me, stilling and waiting. I sigh. Rin and Jaken are a mile or so away, close enough for Sesshomaru, far enough for me. "I was… nervous before you left. Remember when I asked if I could come?" he gives one nod, "Well, I was… uneasy… like I was about to walk into a trap or something. And then it just got… worst." I look away. I can't stand the way his gold eyes pierce me. **

**"Worst?" he prompts****. **

**I glare**** at a rock as if it were the cause for how embarrassing this is. "I got jittery, and I couldn't sit still. I snapped a Jaken when he said something about being smit– **

**"I mean, I just wasn't myself. I could feel something cold sliding around inside me." I touch my stomach. Even just talking about it brings the ghost of the feeling back. "And the longer I waited the worst it got." I finally turn back to him, "So I followed you." **

**He is**** quiet for a long time. Probably analyzing the whole thing with that sharp mind of his and deducing something to make it my fault by being a human or something. But I knew it wasn't anything normal. Whatever was inside me, it wasn't good and it went away the second I saw him. **

**"Do you feel it now?" **

**I blink****. "What?"**

**"The uneasy sensation, do you feel it right now?" **

**"N-no." **

**"Then I was right to say you stay with me."**

**I grimace, "Even when you go interrogating evil Old Ones." He raises**** an eyebrow, his gesture for when I use a term he's unfamiliar with. I guess it's less embarrassing than just asking me what I'm talking about. "An Old One, all capital letters, is a demon that's more powerful than…" I stare at him hard, "than I suppose a demon at your strength." His eyes flash, it's a damn good thing he can't kill me. **

**"How can you tell?"**

**I flinch at his tone of voice, so cold, so condemning, "I just do; it's a tingling along the underside of my skin, between the skin and the muscle. It's unpleasant, a warning."**

**"Another defense mechanism."**

**"Y-yeah, sure." **

**The furry thing he wears brushes against my hand as he moves past me. "Hey, Sesshomaru," he pauses, "You said Kyouryoku ate women, but he seemed to actually…like me."**

**He looks**** back, his eyes putting the sun's glow to shame as they flash with something I couldn't understand. "As you said he is an Old One, he may have changed his taste to men." He turns away and continues walking. I consider putting some space between us but as I stare at his back, as I have almost this entire journey, I could feel the cold, snaking sensation slither inside my gut. It twists inside me and I feel ill immediately. **

**I ru****n to him before realizing I am doing it while at the same time he stops and turns half-way to stare at me. An inch away from him I watch with utter shock while his eyes widen for a fraction of a second. Before I run him down I stop myself and feel the cold feeling disappear, like it had never been there. **

**His eyes were normal, cold, unfeeling, and so v****ery intense while he just stares at me. **

**_Hold me!_**

**My conscious sure is stupid. No way would he do that, no way would this demon lord hold me and – **

**He grabs my arm. Then we freeze. Everything just stops. The wind dies. The blossoms fade. The background simply isn't there any more. It is just him and me. Where he touches me, fire erupts and caresses me. It is comforting, exhilarating, and wonderful. He is**** all these things and so much more than I could ever understand. **

**Who is he? What is he? **

**His eyes swallow me whole and I welcome the falling sensation. I could fall and he would catch me. I could drown and he would breathe for me. "Sesshomaru," it was strange, how throaty I sound, husky and kinda off, like I'm half-asleep. Am I drunk? High? Maybe that is what he is, some kind of drug. **

**The hand holding me under tightens when I say his name. Does he think I sound as weird as I think I do? Those heated, liquid gold eyes blink once, and I feel the loss of them down to the very core of my being. But when he opens them again, they are softer, kinder, the eyes of a man and not a demon. No longer diamonds but honey. My body immediately responds to him, I feel**** warm all over, pleasant, comfortable, safe. **

**When was the last time I ever felt safe? **

**I couldn't think…It's so hard to think past those eyes. **

**"Sess-"**

**"SESSHOMARU!" **

**The spell is broken. He lets me go, moves away, avoids looking at my face, he is gone. I feel**** cold again, not like the creepy feeling but like something inside me had died. Empty. **

**"Rin, we are over here." He calls, his voice betraying absolutely nothing. His stance is strong, unyielding. He isn't shaken by what happened. And I'm holding myself like some meek child. I turn my back on him, staring into the never-ending expanse of the cave's mouth. **

**Two gleaming eyes stared back at me. **


	7. There's another Problem, of course

**This one is dedicated to "**Seleni Argyrios." **Thank you for your opinions and for your compliments of my story. I hope you continue to enjoy my writing!**

There's another Problem, of course there is

"We're almost there, right? Please tell me we're almost there." It isn't a whine so much as a prayer. After our oh-so-helpful chat with Kyouryoku, I demanded we head back to the Bone Eater's Well. I mean, I still have Kagome's stupid, broken, stone after all. I needed to get rid of it as soon as possible before we started some epic journey across the western lands to the **Satsugai Mountains where Kyouryoku's sister lived so she could get our matching set of demonic jewelry off. Sesshomaru didn't agree with me so readily, but he knew I would not go anywhere with him willing if I did not get the stone off my person – and a willing Katsumi is an easier Katsumi. **

**Don't ask. This stone gives me the creeps. Of course once you find that a stone is magical enough to ignore the laws of physics and slip past solid things such as skin and muscle and bone and you find that this stone was once ****_inside_**** your body, you'd want to toss the sucker as much as me. **

**So now it's nightfall, nearly full-ish moon on our hands, and we're still walking. Rin of course gets to sleep on the two-headed dragon-horse-thingy… can you say "****_not happening_****?" And Jaken guides the thing speaking to Sesshomaru about how unnecessary it is to go to Kagome and how there's no reason for the Lord of the Western Lands to be ****_indulging_**** me, a puny and weak little girl. His words, and they might be his last****. **

**"You know I can hear every word you say?" I growled at the toad. It jumps as it whips some old, probably cursed, staff in my direction. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here." I get out of the way of the staff, I'm not ignorant. It looks creepy, so don't touch it.**

**"Know your place, human," he screeches at me, tires on a blacktop – I swear! **

**"You mean the place where I'm sticking my knife in your gut? How's that ear treating ya, by the way?" I'm sure if he could he'd loose all the blood in his face. Stupid toad. Stupid magic well. Stupid fate for making me care so much about my cousin – who is totally fine, by the way! She doesn't need my help in the least! She can handle monsters and demons all on her own, keeps one as a pet too. Lets it sit on her shoulder and everything! **

**Not to mention her best buddy, Mr. Half-Demon. She's doing just freakin' peachy keen**** without me. **

**"We are here." Sesshomaru says, breaking my staring contest with the toad. He looks irritable; considering he's a marble statue most of the time I can see the differences in him now. The tick in his jaw, the narrowing of his eyes, the twitch in his hand, all signs he is the least happy of us all right now. **

**But I am the most relieved. I rush past him in my haste to get to Kagome, to be rid of her magic rock. One less burden and one less worry to fret over. **

**The shack they were staying in is lit and I can feel a sob of relief working around my throat. Shoving it away, hard, I burst through the door in a mad act of getting to my cousin faster. All of her friends are there, eating dinner, and looking about as shock as if I had burst in on them while on fire. **

**I don't look that crazy, people!**

**"Katsumi!" Kagome exclaims. She rises to her feet and rushes toward me. It probably looked like a very emotional scene to outsiders, probably full of sparkles and some instrumental music in the background, yeah very moving. That is, right up until I toss my soiled, bloody shirt at her face. **

**She falls back as I snarl, my words working harder than normal to pass by the sob from earlier, "Take your damned jewel back!" **

**Kagome looks murderous as she pulls the fabric away but the stone lands in her lap and she's mildly distracted. I take it as my cue to escape. With sharp, quick movements I try to slip back out the shack, the monk stops me. He puts a hand on my hip, to try and comfort me maybe, and smiles with charming boyish looks. **

**"Now that is no way to treat your cousin, Katsumi, she was very worried about you." **

**I hit him. Right in that charming face of his. No slapping, not for what he'd done. And he flew out of the shack, right out onto the dirt porch, right onto his perverted ass. **

**"Jerk!" I called after his body. But I'm not done with him; I follow the monk, cracking my knuckles as I do. It isn't enough for what he'd done. **

**"He's gonna get it now." Inuyasha drawls behind me.**

**"I can't believe he did that to her, after he saw the way she used those knives." Sango muttered in a sigh. **

**"And she's obviously frazzled over something; he really should have waited at the very least." The fox offers in mild pity. **

**So they all knew he did that? All the time? To any woman? Sango said he was a womanizer, but I figured he was a major charmer, lots of pretty talk, but he's a lecher. **

**"I'll kill you, monk." I promise as I draw ever closer. "And I won't feel a bit sorry about it." **

**"H-h-h-hey now!" He calls as he holds one hand up toward me, like he could ward me off while he pushes himself away with his other hand. "I-I-I-I didn't mean anything by it!" As he continues to crawl away he bumps into an obstacle. Soft silk, two strong legs, Miroku's senses jumping in alarm as he sensed this specific demon's presence. **

**"Sesshomaru," Inuyash snarls, "What the hell are you doing here?****" **

**The demon lord turns towards the half demon with a bored expression, "I escorted the woman." **

**All of them, excluding myself, blink in open-mouth shock. Of course Miroku's attention was suddenly shaken when I jump on him. "W-wait! Katsumi! I won't do it again!" He cries as I slowly draw one of my knives, I can only imagine what color my face is. My ears are so hot they hurt. **

**In a rush of cool air I watch as Miroku's struggling body grows farther away from me. I land on my feet and glare at Sesshomaru. His clawed hand gripped my forearm like a vise, though he managed not to hurt me. "You should not**** kill the monk." He says in that cold, indifferent voice. **

**"You don't know what he did to me," I counter.**

His features soften around his eyes before he turns to look at the monk at his feet. He doesn't say anything, just waits for Miroku to say what he did. The monk straightens his posture and his robes before clearing his throat, "You can't blame me, Katsumi. My hand, it's evil and has a mind of its own."

I throw a rock at him. "Save it! Like I haven't heard _that_ one before!"

"He really isn't worth the effort, Katsumi," Sango interjects. "He won't change his ways for anybody." She sounds hurt, angry, and there's a threat under all her words.

Kagome finds me in the middle of my killing intent and snaps, "What gives? Why'd you throw the jewel at me?"

"It's cursed." I answer simply without looking at her, preoccupying myself with sliding my knife home. If I ever get the chance I'll rid the monk of his "evil" hand. He catches my eyes for a second and he knows this. A warning for now, a promise for now, but if he ever lets it happen again it would be nothing but truth.

My cousin sounds offended, "_Cursed_? It's not cursed! I've been holding it for months. You've had it for a couple of days and suddenly you can't handle-"

"Don't presume to know everything, Kagome." I cut her off. She bristles indigently, but she drops the topic.

"And what the hell is _he_ doing here?" Inuyasha snarls at Sesshomaru.

I glance at the demon lord; he still looks as comfortable as standing on a bed of hot coals. "He helped me get here," I answer. The demon jewelry seemed to weigh a ton and the skin in contact with it started to itch. Should I tell them about it?

Inuyasha scoffs, "Yeah right! You don't care enough about humans to help them." I felt myself getting angry with the half-breed even though I believed every word he said.

Sesshomaru only gave a mild sneer to the loud half-demon. "She had the jewel; I thought it was best to make sure she made it back to the girl before other demons knew what she had. Or should I have let her wonder the woods, alone and lost?"

"_Psh,_ Don't feed me that bullshit. You're here to kill me, don't lie."

"HEY!" I snap at Inuyasha, "This isn't about you, got it?" I stomp foreword and snatch at Kagome's forearm. "Com'on Kagome. We're going home."

She struggled but I barely felt it. "I'm not going anywhere! I still have to collect the jewel shards. I still have to help my friends." She buried her feet into the dirt, clawed at my hand, pulled with all her lightweight in the other direction.

"You can't just decide she's going home with you." Inuyasha forgot about Sesshomaru as he followed the two of us.

"Shut up, dog!"

"Don't talk to Inuyasha like that!"

"Shut up, Kagome!"

"Yeah, Kagome. I don't you to defend me."

"Well, _excuuuuse_ me. Next time I won't stop Katsumi from putting you down."

"Good, no one asked you to stop her."

"Both of you shut up! I'm taking Kagome home with me, we're going to have a serious talk about her future and then I'm going to blow this freakish nightmare out of the water!"

"What does that even mean?"

"You're not going to do anything to my well."

"Watch me."

"What's she saying Kagome?"

"It's _my_ well, not yours."

"It's for your own good. If your mother knew what this place was really like, she'd have stopped you from your expeditions a _long_ time ago."

"I don't care what you think! It's my well, I get to decide-"

"Fine! Decide: Kerosene or dynamite, it's your choice."

"Hey! Kagome! What's she talking about? You can't take Kagome anywhere with you!"

We both turned towards the half-demon and screamed, "Shut up!" then we turned to look at the well. It was so close. A couple more feet and I'd be flying back to the present and living in a world I understand.

"No way!" Kagome cried out as she bit my hand this time.

In surprise I let her go with a yelp, "Don't be such a child!"

"You're the one being childish," she accuses as she points her finger at me.

I snatch her hand out of the air and drag her behind me again. Her friends sound alarms and protests as they rush to our side to stop me, to pull Kagome away – something! But we were at the well, within inches, and nothing was going to stop me now.

Nothing except some invisible force that gave me the worst bitchslap in my life.

I fly backwards a dozen feet, yards maybe, and land hard on my back, my breath leaving me all at once. It's like a ram slamming into my stomach; though that's never happened to me before, I can imagine. And let me say, Not Pleasant.

I may have blacked out for a second there too, because the next thing I know I see Sesshomaru's pale as moonlight features and his crystallized amber eyes boring into mine. Now I can't breathe for a whole other reason.

"Damn it all!" it should have been a cry to the heavens, but it comes out like a whimper. I feel tears in my eyes, stinging them and causing my chest to ach. "This is your fault I bet."

He sneers at me, a slight movement on his part, just a hint of fang peaking at me as his eyes harden. "It appears you are not _allowed_ to leave my side."

I point all my fingers at him as if to place a curse on his devastating beauty, "Don't act like you know everything." I can feel the worst of the aches in my back and ribs making the last of my words sounding far less threatening than I wished. "Just act how you really feel. You're shocked and a little be worried. It's ok."

Something in his eyes flashes like lightning, powerful and terrifying and amazing all at once. Here in an instant, gone in a flash. My head hurts too much to focus on his fleeting displays of emotions. So I close my eyes and groan out my discomfort.

"Is she dead?" I hear Inuyasha somewhere far off like I'm in a tunnel or underground.

"Of course not you idiot," my cousin answers, she's worried, like she may have been crying.

It is now that I just realize that Sesshomaru is holding me. My legs stretched out on the cold grass while the demon lord has an arm wrapped around the middle of my back. It's not romantic, he doesn't look any different than normal, there are other people around asking questions and crying, and I feel as if I've been stuffed into a blender with a couple of bricks.

"What happened?" Sango asks softly as if she knows my head hurts like nobody's business.

I stare at Sesshomaru when I open my eyes again. Should we tell them? What worse could happen if we did? I mean, it would explain some things and they may even have some insight we overlooked.

Alright, so that last one is a bit of a stretch.

"Hey, Kagome?" She's there on my other side, not touching me, but there are tears in her eyes and streaking down her face. "I got into some trouble." Before she can gasp out a word I press foreword, "A demon came after me and…" I look down at my hand. Kagome follows my eyes and frowns at the pearl band.

She rubs the tears away, "What are you saying? What is that?"

Sesshomaru's grip tightens around me, claws etching warning in my bruised ribs. "Sesshomaru's got one too. Naraku sent them to us as a gift. You know, 'welcome to the feudal era, Kagome's cousin'."

Everyone crowds around me as they all try to get a look at our matching set. I'm not claustrophobic, mind you, I can't be in my line of work, but it was draining – all the pain I was going through. The beatings, the sleeping on earth, the constant threats of my nightmares taking over, the stress of dealing with a child and a toad, and…Sesshomaru in general tires me out. Fighting his spell, reading his expressions, waiting for him to tire of me and kill me, there was only so much a girl to take.

I pass out.

**There'sanotherProblem**

It seems so like her to start something and leave me to deal with the heavy work.

No, I could not say that about her. I did not know her well enough to make assumptions. Humans were lazy, but not all humans were so. She surprised me numerous times already, what was one more shock to my senses?

If the humans had kept their distance she would not have sought seclusion in her subconscious to avoid their insistent chatter.

Now it seems fitting of a punishment to leave me to explain everything to them while she sleeps off whatever had attacked her by the well. Something I never even felt coming, whatever it was that attacked her. It may have, in a sense, angered me to know that something touched her, hit her even without my sensing it first. Few things angered me.

"So, um, what is it?" The girl asks as she peers at the cuff.

I sneer at her. Which set off my foolish younger brother's hackles. Before he could bark some more, however, I pulled back my sneer and I answer her. "It is demonic made. The woman wears its pair."

"Yeah, we got that part," the demon hunter said.

I stare at her and she shuts her mouth real quick. "A demon named Kyouryoku made them and gave them to Naraku."

"What would Naraku want with them?" the monk interjected. Could these creatures honestly not be silent for one moment?

"Naraku meant to bind myself to Rin."

"RIN?" the girl cries out. She's fortunate that Rin was sleeping in another room and did not awake to her scream.

"Yes, it is logical that Rin would have been Naraku's intended for the other band. There was no possibility that he would have know of your kin."

"So why is this so important?" My brother's crass voice sneers from behind me, dripping in disgust.

If I had the lower graces I would have sighed in exasperation. "The jewelry is demonic made, Inuyasha. Since when has anything demonic ever boast good news for humans."

"Uh, is that sarcasm?" the girl asks while pointing a finger at me. She looks as though I had suddenly grown another head. "Seriously, was that sarcasm? Did no one else hear it?"

"Kagome, focus?" Inuyash drawls.

"Right, sorry."

"My immortal life is now tied to her human soul. If she dies, I die." When I finally give them all the important information they have nothing to say.

It is moments before the monk speaks, "So you have a weakness that Naraku can use. Interesting that he would have to make one up."

"Guess he wasn't expecting a demon hunter to take the other band," the other woman says. When the girl gives her a questioning look she continues. "You saw the way she fought off those demons, and her reaction to Inuyasha, it all points to the same thing. She's a hunter."

"No…" the soft voice pulls everyone's attention to the woman in the doorway. She looks wild and breakable all at once. That pull to go to her, to touch her is strong. I suppress it like I suppress all my emotions, all my wants. Interesting that I find myself wanting her though, she is dangerous. She devastated an entire hoard lightly and then forgot about it. She wielding a terrible weapon to my kind, and she repeatedly refused to listen to me.

She continues as she moves toward me, ignoring all others in the room, like she knows I'm holding something back. "I'm an Executioner. It's a bit more advance than just a 'hunter.' And just so you all know, I'm not so weak as to let myself die just 'cause some demon wants it so." The bitterness of her words drips like venom.

There is a collective silence as the inhabitants of the room stare in a mixture of appall and shock. I find myself trying to decipher her words. Who is this woman?

"Now," she states in that commanding way of hers, "all I wanted was to go home –" she turns to me – "and not die on my own." She turns back to the group, "But seeing as that's not going to happen, then Sesshomaru and I are heading to another demon living in another mountain so she can separate us."

The humans begin asking questions, each trying to take the initiative of how best to deal with the situation. It is irritating. How can they stand each other long enough to get anything done?

She stares at me as they press in on her. Her violet eyes deep, like a thunder storm. "There's something else, isn't there?" she groans.

As the chatter stops I speak to her alone, because this really _is _a matter of only the two of us. "The demonic lords and ladies of the Lands are holding a Council." She frowns. "It happens once a year and is a meeting I cannot miss."

She sighs in exasperation, "And no humans allowed?"

"Precisely, though there are exceptions." I am surprised by how harsh my words are. I bite each word off as if it pains me. When did this happen?

Her eyes darken, narrow, there are promises in them I cannot decipher and it is like a promising hunt. What does she want of me?

"Outside." She demands, pointing one slender finger towards the door. "Now."

I do not move, but she doesn't wait. In a flurry of rushed movements she vanishes out into the dark. The females stare at me with disapproval. The males wait to see if I will obey her command. To be rid of the suffocating room and its people I slowly move outside to breathe in the cool air of the night. She's a ways off, holding herself to the biting chill, her back to me.

She should not be moving around so much. I take quick strides to her.

"What's wrong with you?" She bites.

"To what are you referring?"

"In there," she nods at the shack, "there's something bothering you and I want to know what."

"What would you do with that information?"

"So you are upset by something?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't deny it either."

I pause, such a problematic, clever woman. "Were you really going back to you're home and never coming back?"

She narrows her eyes, expecting a trap. "Yes. Sorry I didn't let you in on the plan. But this place," she gestures wildly at everything before her then shakes her head, "I have a job to do back home."

"Yes, executing monsters."

With a smirk, where one side of her mouth lifts in mirth, "Yeah, there's always that."

"You were running away."

"And there's that." If humans were anything, they were liars. She should have denied what I said. Instead she agreed, and readily enough, before she brings her cuffed wrist up to look at. "This never happens back home." She sighs again. "It was probably a stupid idea, but you could have focused on…well…your life if I went back home."

"I would have been thinking about you the whole time." Her face…it…softens…her guards drop for the briefest of moments. "It is best you stay with me."

In a second she turns away and her defensives are back and running. "Except to this Council of yours. How are we going to pull that one off?"

"Give me time, I will think of something."

She scoffs, "Yeah, sure you will." Then her voice quiets, leaving it personal to my sensitive ears, "Of course you will. When does this Council go down?"

"In five days time."

"Are you kidding me!" Such a hellcat she is when angered or surprised or frazzled. "Five days? Only five days? When were you going to tell me about this?"

"I saw no reason to, considering Kyouryoku was supposed to know how to separate us."

We pause. She huffs before turning away from me, wrapping herself up in her arms again. I have very little grasp on what the temperature truly is. Rin always speaks up if she is too cold or too hot. But Katsumi's flesh is chilled and the wind is whisking her hair vigorously and she stands right next to me without saying a word. I wish to do something, to touch her and will the chill away from her.

It is foolish, these wishes and desires of mine that involve this woman.

I feel the presence of the two females as they try to sneak. She stiffens, so she knows they're there too.

"What do you want, Kagome?" she groans.

"We have a solution to your problem." Sango answers. "Actually it was Inuyasha's idea. So you be sure to thank him."

I narrow my eyes suspiciously, Katsumi does the same.

"See, you said there were exceptions to humans attending this council meeting," the girl picks up, "so when we asked Inuyasha about it, he said the only reason he could come up with for an exception would be…" She smiles, there's something malicious about it.

"If you were his mate!" the demon-hunter finishes, as she holds up a finger smiling brightly as well.

"No!" we say in unison.

**Finals week and I'm sick. Isn't that just peachy? Anyway, figured while I was coped up at home with the day off from work and all, I'd reward my readers with the next chapter. I like to think every chapter is super important, like a tv series that you _have_ to have seen every episode to get what's going on. But y'all will tell me what's up and help me with my blinded biased view. **

**What you're favorite part so far? Personally, I like when Katsumi gets knocked back by the invisible force. Of course my _really _favorite part is later so you'll just have to wait. Please review! You don't much more motivated than when you have animate readers breathing down your inbox! Hope y'all had an awesome Thanksgiving!**


	8. Mating is not a Science

Mating is not a Science, but it is Complicated

"And what would be so terrible about being my mate?" I grimace at him. Although I too immediately shot Kagome and Sango's idea clear out the water, it still smarts when the demon lord I'm horribly bounded to never gives the suggestion a second thought. I mean, I'm not a completely unpleasant person, per say… Well, I haven't killed him, so that's gotta count for something. Right?

"The very thought of lying to the Court is profoundly beneath me." He counters with that aristocratic air of finality. Like he'll just say something and I'll readily agree. Not. Happening.

"Lie all you want, to whomever you want, I don't care. But you sure were quick to turn me down."

His eyes and eyebrows soften, the muscles relaxing, "I was unaware you asked me yourself of such a proposition."

I'm sure I'm blushing – don't judge! "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Mr. Demon Lord. A big boost to your ego is just what you need."

"If you were to ask me-"

"No," I deadpan, "I will not. Besides," he raises an eyebrow, "how would we sell that one?"

The girls start to giggle. I swear! It's like high school prom and I'm asking some I guy I didn't come with to dance with me! With these two as my wing-ladies. I huff at the whole situation.

"It would be hard to – as you say – 'sell' the idea of you being my mate." I huff again. So I'm _his_ mate? Not the other way around? I _hate_ the feudal era! Women rights are _so_ missing. "But it would not be entirely impossible to accomplish." I turn to stare at him for some explaining. He waits for me to implore.

Kagome interrupts, "How would you do that?"

There's a twitch to his movements… I think he's annoyed by Kagome.

"We would have to obviously share our scent and-"

Sango and Kagome both flush crimson. I glower at them. Really? How immature…

"Y-you're going t-to sleep-" my cousin cuts herself off before she actually says something embarrassing.

"No you silly girl!" I snap, "He means we'll just have to spend as much time as possible from now until this council goes down next to each other. Mates…" I glance at him, I don't really know much about mates actually. "They rarely leave one another's side."

He nods. Oh, good. I've got something right.

"But it's more than that. You have to be worth the part."

"You're saying she's not good enough?" Kagome snarls. She might be scary to Inuyasha, but she's not much on Sesshomaru's playing level. I sigh, fitting in with demons when you're a human, that I understand pretty well.

"He means, Kagome, because of his status as Lord, I need to be worthy of being a Lord's mate. Not just anyone can do that." I sigh deeply. "How am I going to win the approval of a bunch of Demon Lords and Ladies? I would sooner kill them than play politics with them."

His gold eyes light up and in the dark it is a most captivating sight. "Your occupation is something I believe we can use to our advantage."

Oh, I really didn't like where this was going.

"Are you certain this will work?" the monk asked as he peered over the lip of the oh-so innocent looking well. He had his reasons to be concerned. All of us probably doubted my plan. Hell, even I didn't think it would work.

That said, I am so not going to some demon convention of the highest ranking bad asses in feudal Japan with only my two knives and a sharp tongue. I'd die in seconds. No, if we were going to pretend to be mates, then I needed every bit of my arsenal I snuck into this country! Let me say, you do _not_ want to know how I managed it. Of course, I happened to leave all that precious weaponry back in the future. Now, since I'm magically bonded to a demon lord who is expected to show up to that convention I mentioned, I'm going to have to figure out a way to drag him along to my time and pick up all the shiny objects I left there.

"It will work," I snapped. "We have to stick together, as far as I can tell, so the _both_ of us have to time travel. It makes perfect sense." I bit my lower lip as I glowered at the well. Stupid well. With all its stupid magical abilities that got me in this situation in the first place!

Sesshomaru looks at me. No, I'm not looking at him, but I know he just does. "Shut up," I tell him, "it'll work."

"I still don't see why I can't come with you?"

"Kagome," I'm unreasonably kind to her. She's impossible, you know? When I want to go she's not ready and bites a chunk out of my hand, yet when I have business that doesn't concern her she's all of a sudden ready to head back to the future – or present or whatever – with little fuss. "You have a job to do here, remember?" Of course she remembers! It was only a couple of hours ago when she screamed like a child about it!

"But what if it doesn't work, coming back, I mean."

I frown. Hadn't really thought about that. I belonged down that well, and Sesshomaru was going to have to go with me. The way back, kinda sketchy. But he belonged here, or so I've reasoned. The well will let us pass unharmed if we both jump… I'm fairly certain.

But I wouldn't bet my life on it.

And yet, here I am glaring at an inanimate object with every ounce of loathing I have within me, daring it to shut me out like last time. I swear, one way or another, if that well sends me another whammy I'll demolish it with my bare hands!

"You seem doubtful." Thanks for the confidence, Mr. Demon Lord!

"_You_ seem doubtful. It'll work."

Sango frowns at me, "It's dangerous, you should let Kagome go with you. You are, after all, speculating this."

I huff, shoving my short hair out of my face, "It'll be fine. Kagome needs to go fix that jewel and look out for Rin while we are gone. We'll be back here tomorrow evening. It'll be fine." I snatched at Sesshomaru's hand. I wasn't sure if just jumping together was enough. The well probably wouldn't know any better. He stared at me, almost like he was saying _You seem doubtful…_ But I grit my teeth and pull him with me towards to well.

This would be it. Just get close to it with the intention to go back was all it took to freak out. When we get to the lip of it and nothing happens I squeeze Sesshomaru's hand. Before I can lift myself over, Sesshomaru snatches me up and holds me bridal style. Then he jumps in without any hesitation.

I forgot about the weightless sensation. But it shouldn't have mattered, I was clutching to the demon like a lifeline. I don't like flying much either, and there's pretty much no way you can get me on a boat. So time traveling is filed away with the same basic principle, I hate it.

"How strange…" I open my eyes embarrassed, I hadn't realized I closed them. We're safe and whole in my grandpa's shed. Sesshomaru gives me a deep and personal chuckle as his lips brush against the skin behind my ear. "Are you going to let go of me now?"

I'm out of that well in .2 seconds flat, my face impossibly red and my shoulders hunched as I try to control my breathing. Stupid, arrogant demon lord! I also noticed something I should have noticed when I first met him. Sesshomaru was missing an arm.

He hid it well. His poise and balance was unmarred and he was stealthy and quick and graceful. Not all of it was missing either, only from above the elbow and down. So there was some solid form in his sleeve. His two swords were on the hip of the missing arm's side so he could use them, and I didn't question his form.

His good arm was strong. As I played back all the times he touched him, it was with that one arm. And when I had tried to kill the monk, he had lifted me off the ground effortlessly and without just one hand, without hurting me at all.

I almost wanted to ask what happened to it.

"Stay here," I call as I double check the coast outside. Everyone knew about Inuyasha. They had even met him. Kagome told me they wouldn't be as welcoming to Sesshomaru. I completely agreed with her – I know, a momentous occasion. Inuyasha had human blood in him so he didn't constantly radiate dominating and murderous vibes. Sesshomaru didn't have a drop of human blood and only radiated murderous calculation. It was only a matter of letting the vibes overwhelm you, or letting them slid against your defenses.

"I will not-"

"Oh, you'll stay. This is my time; let me run the show here." His gold eyes narrow in the dark of the shed. I swallow, but my mouth went dry. "Come on, Sesshomaru, you're gonna have to trust me some time." I hold up the bracelet as if to ward him off. He manages to look absolutely dapper as he sulks. "I'll be right back."

I slip out as silent as possible and quickly make it to my aunt's house. The yard's quiet and my aunt's car is missing. When I make it to the kitchen I call warily, "Hello?" No one answers; still I creep about until I pass the refrigerator. There's a note for Kagome and me.

Dear Kagome and Katsumi,

Sota, Grandpa, and I went to the beach (Sunday)

Sota wanted to go camping! So we'll be back Wednesday

Love you!

PS: There are some leftovers in the fridge.

I was about to rip the note off when I realized Kagome might want to see it, if she ever came back for whatever reason. So, I'm going to have to spend two whole days alone with Sesshomaru. I could handle that. Sure, why not…

God, give me strength.

I wanted to punch him. I really, really did. Who was he to glare at the small bedroom and the stairs and bathroom as if every single thing of the future was an insult to his very big and very tender pride? Seriously, all I wanted was to smack him upside the head or punch his shoulder or flick his forehead. He was like a sulking child. A child who was also far too sophisticated and proud to ask for help of any kind.

It took hours of showing him around and explaining things I thought needed explaining. Then, if I missed something, he would hold an object or stare at something long enough unttil I figured out whatever it was he needed to know. I swear! Who does that? Just say "what is this?" or "what does that do?" or something!

Finally, at sometime near seven, I had made a futon of sorts in the middle of Kagome's bedroom. I took every pillow and blanket I could find in every closet of the house to make it. I frowned at my creation. It looked more like something out of a harem than something modest in feudal Japan. But we were supposed to sleep together, since it'd be the easiest way to share our scents and I didn't want to use any of the beds, for the very uncomfortable thought of just sharing a bed with Sesshomaru! I could feel the heat in my bloodstream at the thought of sleeping next to Sesshomaru. Because it wouldn't just be "next to," we have to be against each other, we'd have to…_cuddle_.

I swallowed though my mouth was dry. There was no escaping this. I sighed as I nearly ran out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Sesshomaru was taking a shower since I refused to "draw him a bath" as he requested. He'd be pissed about it later. Probably scold me or call me uncivilized or stupid or a million other things. But I could live with that. What I couldn't live with was my imagination! It was running rampant ever since I slammed the bathroom door shut. I had to do something or else I'd be stunned with the image of Sesshomaru… in the bathroom… taking a shower… naked…

I blushed, and blushed hard! Even alone in the kitchen I blushed at the terrible things my imagination was conjuring! I threw open the fridge harder than necessary. "Get a hold of yourself! He's just some demon lord, nothing to get excited about!" An outright lie I scolded to the leftovers. "I mean, he wouldn't be thinking of _you_ that way, right? So why bother wasting your time!"

"Is it customary for a hostess of this time to leave her guest confounded and speak to inanimate objects?" Sesshomaru's cold voice was like balm to my frayed nerves, while at the same time I jumped about ten feet and nearly had a heart attack. I should have heard him!

"And what _are _you so excited about?" I blushed again but I shoved my face back into the fridge and grabbed several containers without looking at them. He was jesting. I could hear the slight lift to his voice. He knew. He had to have known. He just had to.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." I snap as I lay the Tupperware down on a counter.

"Doesn't _look_ like a kind of 'nothing' I've ever seen." I whipped around so fast I slammed my hand against the corner of the counter. But I couldn't feel it. I'm sure there'll be a bruise, but I couldn't feel anything right now. No, I was stunned stupid by the devilish smirk Sesshomaru displayed. I hadn't looked at him at all since he walked into the kitchen, and now I wish I hadn't.

His long silver hair glittered in the fluorescent lighting as it stuck to his skin. Skin that was still dripping with water and glistened as it peeked out of the robe I found for him to wear. I should have made him ware his usual get-up, but I was _trying_ to be a good host. And now where am I? Too shocked to move, that's where! His liquid gold eyes flared as he watched me watched him. _MOVE_, my body said. And I wanted to, really. I didn't mean for Sesshomaru to catch me in such a weak state, nor did I _want _him to find me like this.

Yet, here I was, rooted against the counter, tracking the trickle as a bead of water slid from his hairline, down the side of his face, over each red tattoo, along his long neck, and into the V that the robe made, where it disappeared into the white and fluffy garment he always wore – and even the fact that he still had it on didn't stop me from watching him. When I brought my eyes back up to meet his, I found the rest of my breath just… gone. His eyes had become a shade I had never seen before. There was red in them.

I needed to move, and move NOW! My body slowly began to respond, shifting ever-so-slightly as I tried to turn my back on him to shove the food into the microwave. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was like "No you idiot! Don't turn your back on him!" But the words couldn't reach me. His eyes held a power I had never experience before, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. It should have scared me; red eyes cannot be a good thing. But I was thrilled and hocked up on adrenaline and endorphins and I'm sure there was some kind of chemical imbalance going on somewhere in my brain.

"Stop." _Oh gods_! And his voice! How could this guy still be single with a voice like _that_! It was simply unfair for _anyone_ to sound so… powerful. It wasn't stern or cold or mean; it was like… oh boy… it was like an _angel. _ It's how you'd picture an angel sounding!

And the whole mystery and magic of his eyes and voice and dripping wet hair suddenly shattered. I jerked violently to shake myself out of it, closed my eyes and grit my teeth. I _would not_ do that again! I told myself. So you saw him. Now you've got it out of your system. Happy now? When I looked at him again I could tell he was… also affected by whatever had happened here. He was glaring with so much loathing at a point above my head that, if it had been directed at me, I would have run screaming from the room.

I grabbed a container and shoved it into the microwave, pushed a couple of buttons and moved around the small space to keep as much room between us a possible. "When the machine makes a noise, open it with the handle, use the cloth on the counter to pull the container out, and take a fork from the drawer right under the machine. You can eat whatever's in there." Then I ran like hell out of there, without the running part.

Once I reached the top of the stairs I took off for the bathroom.

I needed to distract myself and scrubbing three-ish days worth of feudal era dirt and grime would keep me plenty occupied.

I was still breathing hard when the mac-sheen crowed at me. I did everything Katsumi had instructed and when I place the fork – a strange, pronged tool – into the collection of various vegetables, I found myself still – in a sense and without any better comparison – spellbound. She had a profound affect on me. It was discomforting, but I was more at odds with her reaction than mine. _She_ stared at _me_. _She _compelled _me_. Ignorant or not of mating customs, it was very rude for human women to stare at human men, was it not? She had initiated it, not I. I was not to blame here.

Yet, she is the one running like a rabbit catching sight of a fox. Was she embarrassed? She would have apologized if she had been. No, this was her doing, her folly. If she had kept her wondering eyes to herself, if she had been aware of what she was doing to me we would have been able to ignore what just happened.

I stared at the steaming vegetables; she must have forgotten I do not eat human food.

Was it possible that she did not know what she had done? It had appeared so, the way her eyes widened, her lips parted, and the way her shoulders pushed back and she opened her body. Had she not been aware of her body's movements? If so, was that a comforting thought? I affected her in such a way that she did not even realize it, an overpowering thought. It would be profitable to keep that to myself. But if she does not know what is happening, is it willful? Would she permit me to act upon my nature?

Her scent lingered within the kitchen. A sharp scent of metal and a mixture of nuts and spices that is a comfort and a warning. I take a long draught of it and allow it to fill my being. There are too many emotions tied within it to pinpoint if she was truly afraid or greatly embarrassed or in the very least flattered. I don't need her scent to know if she was attracted to me. I already know it.

A low growl works its way within me as I recall the way she had almost turned away from me. That would have been very unwise. It would have been one of the worst forms of rejection a potential mate could bestow on her suitor. What had happened between us, it was too soon for her to reject me, and if she had – bearing in mind our statuses – I would have been within rights as an offended potential mate, and the better of the two, to take her right then. She would have probably tried to kill me at some point and if she succeeded we would both be dead and if she didn't kill me we would never be able to pass that and working with her to get the bond separated would be impossible.

But she didn't turn a way. Not until I had controlled what happened.

This was her fault. I will have to be sure this does not happen again. With this in mind I went up the stairs and decided to wait in the bedchamber of the girl for Katsumi. I opened the door with a slight push since it wasn't shut completely and I walked in on Katsumi just as she pulled a wisp of fabric past her stomach.

This woman may very well be the death of me, in a way I had never considered before.

"From now on, knock on any door that's closed." I said as my cheeks burned. Seriously! I had just calmed down from what happened in the kitchen and here he is, hounding my peace in a bloodthirsty and devilish manner.

"It was opened," he answered. I sighed as I crossed my arms over my belly. "What happened?"

I glared at him, "Nothing. Don't worry about it." He opened his mouth to speak and I cut him off, "Really, leave it alone." He just stared at me, as if he could make me tell him what he wanted to ask. But I turned away from him, slowly and carefully, and gestured at the makeshift pile of bedding. "Will you be comfortable here?" I was only worried cause he was tall and well, I needed to think about something else other than the fact that I was about to sleep with a demon!

He looked at the floor and the around the small room. "It won't do to have two scents."

"Excuse me?"

"Your kin, this is her bedchamber, it is saturated in her scent. So much so that it overwhelms anything else."

I bit my lip, "Well, I guess we could sleep in the living room if I move some of the furniture around." I _really_ didn't want to go downstairs or anywhere near the kitchen again.

"It would be best if we did not have any conflicting scents at all."

"What do you mean?" He looked out the window behind me. "You want to sleep _outside?_" I cried in disbelief. "I've had enough sleeping on the cold floor. I want a bed, or at least a comfy carpet. I'm not sleeping outside."

"I said it would be best."

"I don't want to."

He narrowed his eyes, "tell me what happened or I will sleep without you."

"HA!" I pointed a finger at him, "that doesn't help us, you know. We need to trick the demon lords and ladies and you wouldn't dare back out of this!"

"I still have heard no request from you, there is only this presumption that we will trick the demon lords and ladies. I may have in mind to leave you in a small village then come back for you when it suits me best."

I paused, "You–you wouldn't." But I wasn't so sure he wouldn't. "You wouldn't do that. How do you know I'd just stick around for you to come back, huh? What if I just get tired and fed up with you and just take off, huh?"

His voice was far from angelic as he said, "I'd tie you to a stake." And he would, I could see it. I could actually see myself tied to a stake while a villager fed me or gave me water, or maybe they all would just leave me there for a day or two and when Sesshomaru came back I'd grovel and beg for forgiveness.

Oh, HELL NO!

"I am not playing with you!" I snapped. "We'll sleep in the living room and you _will_ take me with you to the gathering and we will pretend like we're mates. And if you don't want it to go that way, I'll cut you down!"

He seemed mildly intrigued by my outburst, like a predator not expecting his prey to fight back. "Will you? It is hard to imagine you have your knives on you right now." He eyed my shorts and light t-shirt. "And let us get one thing straightened out, I _dismissed _your first attempt to threaten me, do not think my kindness unlimited." I gulped. I had nearly forgotten that I'd probably die if I tried to go against Sesshomaru one on one. He straightened his posture – as if that were possible – and looked down on me with his entire demonic, aristocratic powers, "Ask me."

I swallowed something hard and sour that have been my pride, and grumbled, "Sesshomaru, would you like to pretend to be my mate?" I hated every second of this humiliation.

"I'm sorry? It is difficult to hear you when you speak to the floor."

I growled, a wild and unnatural sound for me, _this guy_! "How do I ask such a question?"

And Sesshomaru only continues to watch me, like the curtain's already raised but the actress hasn't said the opening line yet. I closed my eyes, took a deep breathe, shoved my hair out of my face, and when I opened my eyes I stared right into Sesshomaru's as I said as clear and articulate as possible, "Sesshomaru, Demon Lord of the West, be my mate!"

**Alright, well, I'm back. I had hoped to get this up before Christmas, but Happy New Year to you all! This was one of my favorite scenes, so far, where Katsumi and Sesshomaru have a moment in the kitchen. And Sesshomaru's little bits of Mating customs I think was kinda nice. But to clarify some stuff:**

**When Sesshomaru was speaking about their statuses, he means that before they are mated Sesshomaru is above Katsumi on the status ladder. He's a lord and she's a human. **

**Once they are mated, however, their Status will be shared. Sesshomaru will not think of himself as "better" than Katsumi**

**With all that said, how is my Sesshomaru doing? I feel there will be some OOC later on. I think he acts very Sesshomaru-y actually. But I want to be sure that he acts accordingly. This is a situation we haven't seen Sesshomaru in before so I feel that we can't really know how he'd act. I doubt he'd give her mooneyes or anything. **

**I would love some feedback from y'all! **

**Tell me what you would like to see. How are y'all doing with Katsumi? I love that people have applied for the "alert" option, but I would LOVE to know why you want updates. It helps, when I get what my readers are feeling. If we aren't on the same page then there will probably be problems later.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. What have we gotten ourselves into

What have we gotten ourselves into?

I was surprised she slept so soundly. I would have figured she'd have fought with me more, or struggled or purposely tried to make me uncomfortable by kicking me or shoving me or stealing the bedding. I know now this woman is not above such tactics. However, she did none of this, nor did she ignore me in some sense of embarrassment. I had tried to encourage her to banter with me, as it is something I have become accustomed to in my time with her, but she silenced me with disbelief as she pulled the linen away from me and snuck up right next to me then replaced the linen over the both of us.

Of course I had no need to worry for her quiet behavior, right before she slipped off she muttered against my flesh, "not as bad as I had thought." Then she left me alone in consciousness to ponder her statement well into the night. Such a troublesome woman, crafty and devilish as any woman I have known. Women are strange creatures in their own right; I have become quite aware of this fact, more so probably because of her. She is more frightening than any female I've acquainted myself to.

I lay on my back as she moved to a more comfortable position, with her back to my side as she curled inward. My sharp sight caught the way she wrapped her arms around her belly. I saw what was there now. A scar, three inches wide ran along one side of her stomach to the other in a downward mark from her lowest rib to the edge of her hip. Though I had caught but a glimpse of it, I knew it had been made intentionally. The edges had healed nicely, the scar a near flawless white along her tinted skin. Somehow, perhaps I had not cared at the time, I missed this scar when I found her beating her clothing in the river that first night.

Softly, so she'd barely feel it, I brushed the back of my hand along her cheek, careful of my claws gracing her skin, tucking the loose hair there behind her ear. She wore it so short, just slightly past her pointed chin, some of her hair fell along her cheek again.

_Sesshomaru, Demon Lord of the Western Lands, be my mate!_

Such a strong woman, she would not ask me anything. She told me to be her guide, told me to take her to the well, how could I have thought she would ask anything of me? Her will was like iron, her resolve unmovable as a mountain, her passion – oh, her passion. I remembered the way she stared at me. Her passion was wild.

I glared at the ceiling as I remembered. We were to lie, to deceive clever and deviant and powerful clan leaders that we shared the most profound of any relationship between our kind. We were to mislead them into believing we were the beginning and end to each other's existence, a union older than the oldest of us. This impossible woman was supposed to be my mate.

I curled my body along hers and breathed deeply of her wild scent. It appealed to me to have it mix with my own. I had chosen a candidate perfect above any other.

**Whathavewegottenourselvesinto**

You get that feeling some mornings where you just don't want to get out of bed and face the day? And you know the ones I'm talking about; it's more than a "I don't wanna go to school today!" or "Five more minutes, mom." It's like you _know_ something bad will happen the second your foot touches the floor, in that instant where you really get out of bed and when you move to start the day something devastating will happen. You can sense it, feel it in the moments between when you wake up and when you open your eyes.

Yeah. I got that today.

And maybe it was the fact that I was sleeping on the floor of the living room, or the fact that I didn't have my pillow anywhere nearby, or maybe – and I'm just speculating here – maybe it was that there was a nearly naked and very solid body wrapped around me that made me think it was just going to be "one of those days."

It took every single cell in my body not to jump as far from the demon as possible and run – most likely screaming – from the room. Instead I carefully waited to see if he was awake and when I thought his breathing was slow, even and deep I expertly tried to untangle myself from him.

Considering that I've never awoken tangled up in sheets and another body, I wasn't exactly as "experted" at this as I figured. By the time I was able to breathe without his scent invading my senses – he smelled like evergreens and my plain, clean soap he used last night – I looked up to find Sesshomaru completely awake and watching me with intense focus.

I huffed, "Morning," as I tried to continue my work as if he hadn't unnerved the very life of me with that stare. I thought he had been asleep!

"Is that what you call it?" He turned to glance out the window then back at me, "It is very well past dawn."

"I didn't say 'dawn,' I said 'morning.'" I commented. Was it just me or was getting away from him less and less easier?

"We wake up at dawn." He said, still watching me and not helping in the least as I tried to remove the sheet that was wrapped up and under me.

I scoffed, "So what? You could have gotten up whenever you wanted."

He gave the slightest inhalation through his nose, "I couldn't move, very well 'gotten up,' with you entangling me."

"Me?" I was quite proud the word didn't come out quite as high pitched as I had feared. "You did this!" I pulled an arm out and shoved a finger at the bare skin of his chest. Then I whipped my finger away, there was _way_ more skin than there had been last night. Though I guess I could understand why he wouldn't want to sleep in his era clothes, I hadn't thought of the repercussions of this super-attractive demon lord sleeping in just a robe.

"I did not create this cocoon. This was all you."

I frowned at him, "You didn't sleep last night, did you?" He just stared at me and I huffed some hair out of my face then went back to the mess of our sheets. I finally thought I was free when Sesshomaru threw his arm around the middle of my back and pulled me tight against him again. All that work for nothing!

"You were like this for most of the night." He said in a way that sounded cocky and sure and full of something that was probably going to piss me off pretty soon. "I'm rather surprised you held on so tightly, I almost thought I'd have to break one of your arms to detach you."

I bristled and shoved roughly against him, which was harder than I thought considering he only used the one arm to pin me to him. "Sorry to have been such a bother. You could have pushed me away whenever you wanted. I haven't shared my bed with anyone before so I sleep all over the place." I blushed crimson at that last part. It kinda proved I was a virgin. And that stuff… is personal…

But something in Sesshomaru's eyes glittered darkly at me. "We are sharing our scent, if I pushed you away that would not be very productive." I glared at him. Who did he think he was? Taking the "higher road?" Acting all "noble?"

"Whatever, we're done now." I pulled away from him sharply and tried to walk away but one of my ankles was still tangled up and I fell backwards as my jerky movements and my disorientation unbalanced me. I expected to fall right on top of or at least next to Sesshomaru, but he moved with quick grace and met me halfway down. He held me as if it were a dance move and I felt an unreasonable and incredibly girly grin coming on; I squelched it down real quick. "Thank you." I mumbled as I tried to use his shoulder as leverage to get up.

Sesshomaru wouldn't have any of that, he pulled my body up flushed to his and held me tightly, like a vice, a prison… With just one arm, I was his prisoner. I stared at him, probably on the verge of considering panicking. "What are you-"

"We're done when I say we're done." He told me, his eyes still a dark honey as he stared me down. I was sure I was suppose to object here, say something sarcastic and hold a blade at his throat. But I just lay there in his arms stunned silent. It was like last night, something that I've filed away into the file labeled as "The File I will never open again."

Instead I opted for saying something stupid, "What? Don't I smell like you?"

He made a noise in the back of his throat, something like a hum or a murmur of approval, at least I thought it sounded like approval, I but I couldn't be sure. Then he moved in close, brought his nose to the side of my neck just under my ear and he breathed in deeply. I stiffened. There was something so primal about it that I felt my knees shake. I've never had my knees "weaken" before and I was immensely and embarrassingly glad I wasn't standing because I was fairly certain I would have collapsed.

When Sesshomaru could take no more into his lungs, he exhaled and his warm breath rolled over my flesh. I felt the Goosebumps form and I shivered and could do nothing to hide it from him.

"You know, there are easier ways to do this," he said and his voice was deep and soothing to my heated skin and nerves. I didn't say a word but my heart rate picked up rather instantly to that. Sesshomaru must have heard it or felt it or something because his hold on me loosened. When he glance at my face he must have saw something. "We will have to ask Inuyasha, he would be able to tell better than I. But I would say that it is not enough."

I shrugged, "We still have time." Then I went to move upward to give him the idea that I wanted to be let go. He did so without another word. When I had safely put the sofa between us I said, "We'll spend all day together and we can work on our story too. There will be questions as to how we met and what made us decided to mate and…" I trailed off and frowned at the floor, I hate sleeping on the floor no matter how padded I think it is, "And you're going to have to tell me about mates. My experience with demons pretty much pertains to killing them."

"And interrogations," Sesshomaru added.

"Right, there's that too."

**Whathavewegottenourselvesinto**

In a swift arch I had decapitated three invisible foes with ease and precision, despite the fact Sesshomaru watched with his too-intense eyes. "So, you can't cheat on me, huh? I like that." I twisted my body and slashed at a foe coming from behind, then ducked and rolled out of another's assault from the left. We were in my aunt's backyard, where the hundred year old trees protected Sesshomaru's appearance (back in his impeccable era clothing) and my training. I favored my katana right now, since I figured I had plenty of practice with my knives.

"Do you?" I knew he had cocked that eyebrow as he smirked at me. He sat under the shade and lectured me about our "duties, responsibilities, and perks" of being mates.

I jumped up from my roll and gave a sharp back kick then righted myself and with a downward slash killed the persistent one and managed to block the one that had waited its turn. "Of course. Every woman fears her husband will cheat on her."

"In a sense, however, some demons do have multiple partners." He sounded almost amused.

"But not you."

"No, not I."

I nodded, "So, I can't cheat on you either?"

"You can, you have free will and are allowed to choose whatever you like, however, you will not want to." At first I thought he was being an arrogant, egotistical male, but it made sense as I gave him a sidelong look. There would be no reason to leave him. He was a lord, with land and wealth and could provide for his mate. He was strong and capable of defending her. And, well, it needn't be said how amazing he looked… So, yeah, ok, I _could_ pick someone else after I picked him, but he was right, I wouldn't want to.

I turned my back on him and continued the exercise. I think I was becoming – if I use the term loosely enough – use to Sesshomaru. Scratch our incident last night I really think _eventually_ he too-intense eyes and his permanent glower would warm up to me. He didn't talk much, wasn't clingy, and as of right now couldn't kill me, so far things were looking up. As long as whatever went on last night never occurred again, I really think he'd be the only demon in my life I may hesitate to kill, if it came to that.

"_I so swear to you that on the life of Griffin I will not kill Sesshomaru."_

Well, I technically couldn't kill Sesshomaru anyway. But if it even came down to it, then I'd probably hesitate.

"So," I was feeling slightly uncomfortable where my thoughts were heading, "are there other demons mated to humans?" When Sesshomaru didn't say anything I laughed, "I mean, we can't be the _only_ ones, right?" Still he stayed quiet; I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight. Uh oh, I think I said something bad. "Inuyasha's parents, what about them?"

I should have looked at him. I mean, _really_, you stupid girl. But I knew I said something wrong. The Inuyasha comment was just the icing on top. I just made myself an idiot-split-Sunday!

"Inuyasha's parents are dead. It is not," I could tell he was choosing his words with me, "usual for a demon and a human to mate. Though it is not unheard of," for some reason I felt he only said that to make me feel better, "it is not common, and as far as I am aware you are the only human mated to a lord on the Counsel."

I felt my stomach drop and my breakfast was going to reappearance. Oh Hell's bells, what have I done? We should have thought of something else! I tried to loosen my muscles but they wouldn't listen. My body was as tight as a violin string. Though I wasn't at the gathering yet, I felt as if I was before every demon lord and lady right now.

I grit my teeth, "So I will be the only human there?"

Sesshomaru sighed, quietly, as if he were dealing with a ticking time bomb and it was only Monday. "No, demons take multiple partners, out of curiosity sometimes they are humans. However, because you cannot control yourself when I am gone," I turned on him then to argue but he just rushed on, "you will be the only human when the Counsel actually meets."

I cursed under my breath. The world just hates me. The last time it had been me in a room of demons it didn't end so well. Not for the demons, I killed every last one of them, and not for me. Unconsciously I rubbed my stomach. Sesshomaru's disturbing eyes met mine and I felt a compelling force try to pull me to him. I reign in my emotions and shoved my memories violently away.

"Good to know." I spun into another crouch and doubled my efforts to not die against my imaginary herd of foes. It was sometime later, when I felt I could face him again I asked, "How does it work? I mean, when do you _know_ you're mated?"

"It is different with every bound. No one will ask this of us though."

"Why not?"

"It is a personal matter. When we say we are bounded, unless they have reason to believe otherwise, then they will believe it to be so."

I groaned, "It's that 'unless' part that worries me. I'm sure there are offenses about faking a bond, right?"

"If another wished for you, and as a lord or lady of the Counsel all of them could do this, they would challenge me and if they won they would be able to take you away. Of course, they could do this even if they didn't want you as a mate. They would do it merely to give me shame in proving that I lied about something like this."

I stopped, breathing hard, "You say 'something like this' as if our lying is a crime punishable by death."

When Sesshomaru didn't answer I turned to look him down. His face was hard and impossible again. Something equally hard and vile rose up in me, "Could we die if we get caught?"

Seeing that he would either have to lie to my face, evade the topic, or outright tell me the truth Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "Yes." He said after a length of time.

I cursed under my breath, again, and slid my sword into its sheath on my back. I paced in front of him, back and forth, shoving hair out of my face, back and forth, muttering to myself as I went, back and forth, questioning my sanity a time or two, back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

When I turned again I found Seshsomaru's chest plate blocking my way. "We will not get caught." I was about to argue with him, when he put the back of his fingers on my cheek and brushed the hair behind my ear. All words died as I watched his eyes soften, his jaw unclench. "I saw you, killing a horde of demons in a battlefield of glory, and I was struck by the power you – a human – wielded. And in a moment of passion we mated that very night.

"You are from an island, the only survivor of your fleet and are unfamiliar with our customs so you must stay by my side at all times or else I risk you embarrassing me in some way. Our bond is new and therefore it is still fragile, so challenges may be made. I will handle those.

"Do you understand?"

I huffed at him and lightly pushed the hand that lingered on my cheek away. "Of course, we went over this for hours." Then, because in a situation like this there's really no alternative, I smiled. "Don't you think it's a bit unlike you to rush to mate 'in a moment of passion?' Ever heard that expression 'only fools rush in?' And what about me? I'm not the type of person to jump into a bond with a demon from an unknown country. Maybe a demon from my home country but-"

Sesshomaru frowned; he was probably not used to people picking flaws in his plans, though it might be because he hardly makes them. "What do you suggest?"

"Well, I like keeping it simple and close to the truth," turning it around like I massacred a hundred demons was stretching it a bit, but I had to build up some street cred. That, and my Influence would work better with that. "So meeting like we did and using it sounds good. But mated that night? How about I threaten you?" I smirk and pop a hip out, "I'm new to the lands, so I threaten you to help me out. But you mistake it as 'providing' and so we're accidentally mated."

"No." He shoots me down and my lip curls back in retaliation, "No one's mate is an accident."

I glared then shrug and turn away from him to get back to my exercises. "Fine, but I like the idea of threatening you. We should definitely use that." I start shadow-boxing, ducking and evading my invisible foes.

"You enjoy degrading me?" Oh, I stung his pride, did I? Well, good. Shows him for making me into some pathetic and wholesome girl.

"Not as much as you think," but there was mirth to my tone and I was sure he heard it. In one moment there was no one save my imaginary foe and in the next Sesshomaru was in front of me, deflecting the blow with liquid ease. I could feel the game afoot, and I welcomed this change between us. Though if he were serious I know I would be dead within seconds, there was no harm in sparring with the demon.

"I cannot tell the Counsel I was threatened by a little, human woman."

In three quick jabs I pushed him back slightly as he dodged them all. "I think it would be good for my reputation. I mean, I just gloriously slaughtered a hundred demons, what would make me think that you were any different."

He stepped out of my reach but I managed a sharp roundhouse kick that had him shift directions – that would have unbalanced any normal demon. "But you don't try to slaughter me. You try to strike a deal. You think I'm reasonable, educated."

"Perhaps." I grant him that much but no more as I try to land a hit. "But it still seems odd that we jump right into it."

For a while it's just me on the offensive and he on defense as he evades my every move, not throwing a single punch. After several minutes – in which I can feel my frustration escalate as I realize he might not be taking me seriously – Sesshomaru says, "You threaten me, to find you a place to stay. As I conceded merely out of curiosity—"

"Of course."

"I find myself drawn to you in the typical sense that most males are attracted to females."

"Go on." I grin as I fake and try to catch him in an uppercut. He snatches my hand out of the air and holds me at bay inches from his flawless face.

"You are beautiful."

I falter – where had _that_ come from? – and I pull my hand roughly from his and raise an eyebrow. "I'm sure that will not satisfy anyone. There must be hundreds of demon ladies who are beautiful." Sesshomaru takes a step forward and I take one back. He pauses only a moment before he does it again I take two more back.

He steps to the left and I take one to my left. We circle each other in a deadly game that suddenly lost all its appeal from before. I can't tell if we're sparring or he's testing me. He snarls, showing fang and his utter distaste. "You defeated me in a duel. Does that appeal to you?"

I watch him carefully as we continue to circle one another. There's a charge in the air, the wind blowing restlessly. "I like that. It could be enough to intrigue you into a courtship. I'm sure the lords won't believe you."

"That will not matter."

I scoff at him. "The whole point is to have them believe us."

"If it is completely conceivable they will not believe us. There must be something that is unbelievable to them for them to consider the possibility."

I frown, demons don't make sense. But I nod nonetheless, "Fine. A duel, did I offend your honor or something to call for a duel?"

"You killing on my land is enough." I purse my lips together. "In winning you spare my life."

I nodded again, carefully watching him change direction and mirroring him. "Mercy. And this appeals to you?"

He shrugged the most elegant shrug I have ever witnessed. "It will do."

This was sounding far less fun to me now. Ever since last night, the idea of spending _all_ my time with Sesshomaru became more like a python wrapping around my neck. Alive and deadly. Forget what I said before, there was _no_ earthly way I would ever be _use_ to this demon! "So we mate… I have mercy for you and you are intrigued by a human who has mercy for demons." It was strange to me. I didn't have mercy for demons. I know I said I'd have hesitated in killing him, but that wasn't mercy. There was no room for mercy when among demons!

Before I had time to think farther on that, Sesshomaru charged. It was a flash of silver and red and suddenly I was on the defense. He hit me square and I stumbled out of the way of the second hit and barely blocked the third. When I tried to jump back I found him a move ahead of me, ready for me as I landed. I ducked from his jab and thrust a kick out to shove him back. He sidestepped me and twisted at the last second to grip my ankle. _Uh-oh._ He tossed me as if I weighed nothing to the other side of the yard. I landed and rolled to absorb some of the impact and ended up an inch from the fence.

With a glance behind me, I watched as Sesshomaru waited for me. He _waited_ for me. I glared hard at the demon lord. He was playing with me. We were going to lie to his counsel that I defeated him in a duel. So right now he was going to prove to me that I couldn't win.

Well, doesn't that just piss ya off? Slowly I stood, checking all the bones and muscles as I went. And when I stood to my full five feet and change, I slipped my katana out from its sheath. Sesshomaru didn't even blink. He nodded, acknowledging that I got the game. Then he charged me again. I swiped my sword outward but he already moved; going to take me out from behind I kicked without looking. This was a dance I could do in my sleep.

I hit his stupid metal breastplate and I hard him give a slight sound, probably more of surprise than pain. I twisted my body and shoved my sword at him; he dodged every move. As I pulled the sword back I watched him watch the blade. He wasn't expecting me to swing the sheath around my body and strike him in the throat. I nicked his chin as he realized the move a second before it became deadly.

It was enough for me to gain some distance from him. I swished the blade in the empty air between us, loosening my wrist. His face was passive, not bored, as he straighten himself and barely touched his chin. My sheath wasn't made of silver. But it was strong enough to not break from his tough skin. Enough to bruise him, a bruise that would last an hour, tops.

Something in his eyes changed as he pulled his hand away. There was silence as his claws seemed to elongate. He watched me with the intensity of a real predator. I would have swallowed if I knew he wouldn't catch it.

This time I charged him. I ducked into his personal space and jumped sharply to slice a chunk of ear off; he easily pulled away and said "You can move much faster…" The first words between us since the fight began. It pissed me off, how condescending he sounded. I pushed myself and I found I was already in front of him again; close enough to touch without reaching for him. I tried for an elbow swipe at his face, it made him take another step back and I moved with him.

I could feel my body reacting to his movements. He would attack, I would block, he would deflect and I would try for a sneak attack. It was the most exhilarating dance I ever partook in. There wasn't even any blood spilt. He just wanted to prove how weak I was, and I just wanted to prove him wrong.

His sharp features turned into a frown as I nearly had him first with a back fist, a trick as I slapped the flat of my blade along the back of his hand, then I pushed him back with a roundhouse. I was breathing hard, but still wasn't tired, perhaps that had been what Sesshomaru was counting on, his demonic endurance against my human constitution.

When I attacked with my katana again, he seized my arm and twisted it enough that I cried out in surprise then dropped my blade. I stared at the silver in the grass in confusion. It had happened so fast. Sesshomaru unraveled my arm just to pull me against him. His gold eyes dug into mine and I saw satisfaction in them. I bristled. I thought he'd be too stoic to display any emotion. With an animalistic sound that slightly unnerved me if I thought about it too hard, I slipped out my switchblade and triggered it.

He didn't realize I had more than my katana on me. _Psh! As if I would just have one weapon on me!_ I sliced a thin strip lengthwise, crossing over all of his red tattoos on the right side of his face. He froze and for one horrible second I wondered if I pushed past some line and he was going to snap.

He dropped me; I wasn't ready for it and landed hard on my knees. Then Sesshomaru snatched the weapon from my hand, a move faster than lightening, tossed it into the grass far from us. If I scrambled back to get it, he'd just grab my foot and throw me around again. I looked up at him, the sun glittered his hair as it flew over his shoulder. It made him more intimidating than usual.

We stared at one another for a long time until I got fed up with looking up at him and kicked his feet out from under him. He wasn't expecting it. I'm pretty sure he was too busy debating about killing me or not. He didn't land in as much of a mess as me, but I didn't give him time to collect himself; I pounced.

When we fell into the grass with a mild "oof" from me and stone silence from him, I straddled his upper body and put an arm at his windpipe. As we lay there I was suddenly washed with exhaustion. Had I ignored it before? Funny, I never use to do that…

His eyes took my breath away and I felt as if I could just curl up next to him and sleep the day away. I was tired enough to do that. But I inwardly growled at myself. He was not someone I could "curl up to," he was dangerous. And more so because I just proved him wrong.

I leaned over his frame, adding just a fraction of pressure into my arm at his windpipe. I locked eyes with him long enough to make me dizzy, and then I pushed myself up and away from him. I didn't trust myself to stand. But I made my point clear. _I could have killed you, but I won't. _

It must have been the cockiness in my smirk that set him off because in my next blink I was shoved to the ground as Sesshomaru glared on top of me. He didn't touch me; his armor would have crushed me. He had my wrists pinned above to me with his one hand, and a pair of intense and probably angry eyes froze my blood where it flowed. Stupid, damned, demon lords…

**Whathavewegottenourselvesinto**

She was a dangerous creature.

She should not have gotten up after I tossed her about. She should have laid there. She should have. But of course she wouldn't. The second she caught a whiff of my ploy she was ready to fight me to the end.

"Do you know what you've done?" I drawled. The shiver that raced along her spine was a relish. The way my voice affected her appealed to me. The way she glared defiantly up at me, in such a position brought adrenaline flowing freely through my veins. Her passion, her wild passion, excited me.

"I gave you mer –"

"If you dare utter that word, you will not like the consequences." I wasn't sure what I would do to her. I had never played with a woman before. This territory was new, and although I typically preferred my own territory, the kind of excitement that rushed through my body was thrilling, like a chase. Perhaps that was what this was.

She clamped her mouth shut, her eyes bright. Another tremor left her trembling beneath me. She wasn't a helpless little girl. She was no smitten lady. She was defiant until her last breathe and so responsive it was sinful.

"What did you think you would accomplish? Now it's not really a _lie_ when we tell them why we mated?" I glared down at her. That was _not_ why we did this. But what had I been hoping for? Her movements were flawless. She knew how to use her smaller body against a bigger opponent. Had I been trying to evaluate her skills? I frowned. This woman, exciting and new as she was, was dangerous. I did things impulsively around her. I provoked her without realizing why I had done so. And now she looked at me as if her ending up beneath me had been the plan all along.

I'd be damned if she twisted me like that.

**Whathavewegottenourselvesinto**

"Hm," he rumbled, the vibration of the sound rolling through me even though his body wasn't touching me, and the brightness of his eyes suddenly burned brighter, and where he pinned my wrists down scorched my skin. Then he leaned forward and brushed his lips along my throat.

"H-hey, Sesshomaru, that's unwanted physical contact! I-I mean, we're prêt-tending right?" Then he did something that drove all rational thought far from me. He licked me. His tongue laved at the skin of my throat, sweeping from my collarbone to my chin, in a long and utterly sensuous path that blinded me. Seriously, I mean, there was no flash of light or impenetrable darkness, but my brain just stopped using visual means altogether and every single cell within me focused intensely on Sesshomaru.

My breathe hitched as he backtrack and reversed the very same path to my collarbone. My fingernails dug into my palms and my heels dug into the earth. His thumbs rubbed small and slow circles in the inside of my wrists. Wicked. It was the only way I could describe him. He was very, very wicked.

A complete sentence tried to make its way past my lips but then Sesshomaru beat it down by locking his lips over the hollow of my throat. I gasped a harsh sound when I had been in silent torment. But a sound nonetheless, that brought me near to normal again. I called his name, persistent and not dreamy or shy or anything of the like. I did it again and pulled my arms sharply out of his grasp as I did so. The movement jolted Sesshomaru as well and he pulled back swiftly, but not completely off me.

I wanted to ask what just happened. But I just shook my head; too nervous to smirk and try to act playful, if I said something that set him off… Well, now I wasn't sure what to expect from him. My voice was hard, from embarrassment and maybe excitement. _Maybe! _I mean, it's not everyday an amazing lord-of-anything pins me down and… licks…me… But of course, I _had_ to say something. "Does this mean we're 'mated' now?"

He glared at me. The same glare from last night, the one that I was afraid of. And rightly so, this guy was going to kill me if I didn't do something soon. But what do you do when a demon lord licks you? I doubt I thank him. And I had been wrong; I had set him off with my comment. In my act of mercy he had been driven to mate me – or so the lie goes. Here, we just reenacted that lie. Half of it hadn't even registered to Sesshomaru.

I think I embarrassed him.

But instead of ripping my face off he said "You will be more than suitable as a demon lord's mate." I pursed my lips to keep from saying something stupid. Now the blood was flowing again and it all went right to my face. There was an undertone to his words, something unfinished about them. _My mate_ I could hear his voice echo in my head. My conscious playing mind games again, but somehow the words stuck with me. Sesshomaru sneered down at me, "Here, you would thank your mate for such a compliment, or bestow a gift that would say as such."

I would not be sneered at. In a quick and sudden move before I lost my nerve again, I leaned up and kiss him on his cheek right over his tattoos, right over the mark I made over them.

Then the demon lord stood and took one wrist to bring me with him. "Satisfactory."

I left him with a sharp nod to collect my weapons. My hands were shaking. What in the name of God just happened?

**WOOOHOO!**

**Another fabulous chapter, if I do say so myself. And I do say so! I LOVED this chapter. It took me about six tries to get it right though. There was so much copying and pasting from other documents as I tried to figure out where I _really_ wanted this fight to go. I mean, we can't just have them end up together, that would be too easy! And Sesshomaru is too proud. **

**Well, for now he is. **

**Yes, yes, yes, this is my LONGEST chapter for this story so far! Wasn't it just awesome! You can say it, I don't mind. No, really, say it! **

**I bet y'all are just so stoked to finally get this next bit, huh? Well I hope it holds you over for a while. School and work are not helping my fanfiction one bit. So, there won't be much as far as my creative writing goes. Maybe when Spring break hits I'll have something else for you! So long as the comments keep coming, we won't have an issue, will we?**


	10. Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Things were tense in the house since we came back inside. I could feel Sesshomaru's eyes on me everywhere I went. There's an intense focus about him, it seems more _hostile_ than usual, but no malice or evil intent – as far as my instincts could tell. And I'm not so sure I can count on them much. My instincts, I mean. I've been a frazzled mess since we came to the future – my time. I don't sense him as he enters a room, I can't pinpoint his intentions, and they go beyond just Sesshomaru, I don't even know my own limits anymore. When I'm tired I don't feel it until I stop moving, and I'm always excited, always on edge. I can't remember when I last felt comfortable. When was the last time I could just sit still and _know_ with absolute certainty that I wasn't going to die? Before I was pushed down a well, that's when…

To keep busy and my mind off Sesshomaru, I cleaned the whole house, took the longest shower of my life, and I had actually made myself dinner two hours before I needed to, and ate it with way too much care – taking notice of every forkful, tasting every dull flavor I could, and even counting the number of times I munched. Suddenly, I realized I had nothing to keep me occupied and away from the demon lord. It might be the nerves talking, but I think he was _waiting _for this.

I glanced in his direction. The only peace he gave me was when he disappeared for a couple of hours, doing who knows what but promising he would not derive any attention to himself. When he came back he look as impeccable as ever, and stayed close by me as I did everything I could to keep myself away from him. To my utter embarrassment, every now and then I wondered if he knew I was watching him. After he took a shower and was dressed again in a robe that was far too small for him I've come to realize, he placed himself on our nest of pillows and blankets and just… _waited_.

Damn that robe! It was short, cutting off in mid-thigh, and one of the sleeves were rolled up just below his elbow, and there was a gapping V that showed me his elegant neck, and…

At least he had the fluffy garment too, it almost helped… It hid the fact that he was missing an arm at least.

Yeah, I turned away again.

I grit my teeth. We were going to have to go back to his time tonight. And we were going to have to make our way to the meeting the very next morning – at dawn, no less. I sighed heavily, why was it like this? Why couldn't I have stayed in America and dealt with common demons? Why did my parents have to send me here to check up on my cousin who has no problems with demons at all?

"Something displeases you." His voice was as uncaring as ever, I was probably just annoying him.

"No, I'm just dandy!" I snapped. I was sulking in the kitchen. Because when I tried to stay away from him I would just get unreasonably anxious – thank you stupid demon jewelry! – I ended up staying away and still within sight of him. Makes me feel fickle. I shudder.

"Sarcasm is an ugly language."

I sneered and because I was irritated I said, "It's a defensive mechanism." He made a dark hum in the back of his throat and continued sitting alone with his eyes closed. I had hoped we were done talking but I should know better than to hope for anything.

"Come here," and there was a "no nonsense" about his tone that I jerked away from the counter almost violently and marched defiantly towards him to stand just out of his range. When I didn't move closer or said anything Sesshomaru opened his eyes, damned if they're not weapons in their own right, and his voice turned quiet with power, "Do not make me repeat myself."

I rolled my eyes, "Such drama," but I was shaking. I turned and grabbed my three close-combat daggers, each with an individual design in the hilt. I sat down next to him without touching him and tried to look as uncaring as he did. And quietly I began to clean each knife with the utmost care, the kind of attention one gives to a newborn child.

"You are avoiding me. An amusing thought, considering you cannot be far from me, do to our predicament. I thought we were past this." I expected him to touch me, or pounce on me. But he didn't do either. Maybe 'cause I'd stick him with my pretty, little dagger if he did. I felt his eyes though and I refused to allow him any power over me. I simply continued to polish my weapons.

We sat there for a long time. I was certain it was a whole hour without either saying anything before I felt Sesshomaru move. I expected him to get up, but then I thought "where is he going?" and then he was suddenly _very _close to me. Invading my personal bubble as if it were not made of stone. He was sort of behind me, looming over my shoulder and watching with a satisfaction as I worked. Then his hand came up and covered over one of mine, the one holding the hilt, and merely sat there like that as I worked _very, very_ hard not to show that I was startled.

Hell, I was about to fall apart right there! There has to be only so much a girl can take! We're pretending to be in this profound partnership, sharing our scent and sleeping together, but he would change the game, like he did earlier today, by doing the most absurd things to me. He is either about to pounce, or he is surprisingly… Sweet was not the proper term, more like he is charitable. His hand holding mine was large with elegantly long fingers and soft skin. There should have been sword calluses, but they were perfect. I noticed that there was a small burnt mark on the back of his hand, where my silver had touched him earlier. I suspected there to be some kind of satisfaction in knowing I hurt something as powerful as Sesshomaru, but I didn't.

In fact I don't think I felt anything about what I had done to him. No surge of pride, no burst of delightful surprise, not even a smidgen of fear from the consequence.

I pulled the cloth away from the blade and very slowly we placed the knife in its sheath then in its box together. I realized that had been the last one and I had nothing else to hold my attention. Nothing, save the delicious demon next to me.

He guided my hand to close the box and flick the latch to lock it, and then even more slowly he pulled my hand away from my silver and brought it to his lips. They were soft as he rubbed them along the back of my fingers, along my knuckles, down my thumb and to the bone of my wrist. Then he turned it over and placed feather-light kisses on the pads of my fingertips and in the center of my palm.

"Sesshomaru," I wasn't sure if it was a question or a cry for help, or even just something to keep me from falling apart. Men are _not_ this gentle. Demons are _never_ this gentle. Sesshomaru was not _supposed_ to be so gentle.

His lips caressed the back of my hand as he murmured, "It is strange." I frowned but he continued, as if speaking more to himself than me, "You have filled me with desires I had long decided unnecessary. What's worse, I can no longer ignore these desires." I felt the itch to squirm away from him.

_Don't you dare move! _

"I have never been the pawn of anyone. Yet, a mere human woman can crumble my will as if she were the demon and not I." Weren't we pretending? Wasn't it all just a rouse, a trick until we got the bands off? What's with this confession?

No, it wasn't a confession. It was the way he held my hand, the way his lips ghost over my skin, there is a hesitation to it. Like The Great Mr. Demon Lord was almost _scared_ to touch me. Although... I don't know this fear, maybe it isn't actually fear at all…

_What are you doing? Analyzing demon personalities now? So you're a demon therapist? _

No. No, I'm an Executioner… Aren't I?

_Aren't you?_

"Katsumi…" I gasped at the finality of my name in his dark voice, coming from his soft lips. It was like a seal. A wax seal on a letter, my signature on a contract! I turned to stare at him, because I couldn't stop myself, and I saw his eyes were red.

A deep, dark, red, like wine, that pulled something within the center of my chest.

He looked down at me, his eyes soft and compelling, and the complete opposite of what you'd expect from red eyes. He still had my hand captured when he said, "You cannot jump like a mouse every time I touch you." I watched the way his lips moved. His voice was low and deep and masculine. I could drown in that voice. "If you do not become comfortable with the simplest touches they will see through you."

I glared hotly at him, "You're going to blame it on me if things go sour?"

He smirked, "It will be your fault if you cannot become comfort-"

"Right! Fine! What is expected, _exactly_?"

**GreatExpectations**

He was crueler than I gave him credit for. After I blushed madly and prepared myself for the worst, he scoffed lightly and stood up, bringing me with him and giving me some crap-excuse about how we had to "disembark." Now I don't even know why I'm so mad! He tricked me, perhaps. He was just talking nonsense and I got caught up in it. He wasn't taking me seriously. Like during our scuffle in the backyard, he didn't take me seriously then either.

Although I loath myself to admit it, I am affected my Sesshomaru. I'm not sure when it happen, or how exactly, but I think I might actually like the guy. Sometimes, when he isn't jerking me around or glaring daggers at me, or worst – when his eyes turn red…

I frowned and grumbled to myself as I tromped down the stairs. I was dressed like I was ready to take down a horde. I had every scrap of silver on me, and this time I was not going to let some shattered pebble push me around! This time, I was not going to throw up at the sight of a demon's true form! This time, I'm the Executioner!

"That is your chosen attire?"

"Don't start with me, Mr. Demon Lord." I snarled. I was sooooo not in the mood right now. He had embarrassed me; it takes some serious prep work for a girl to recover from something like that. My well-worn and favorite dark jeans, my trusty dark purple tank, and my old-school vintage motorcycle jacket were just enough to have me face him right now. Plus the half-dozen blades strapped to my body were a leap of confidence. The duffle bag bouncing against my hip held another dozen or so of other weapons, my just-in-case stash.

But Mr. Demon Lord was having none of it, "You are unsuitable to present to the demon lords and ladies."

My temper flared, "I'm suitable enough to decapitate them all!"

He sneered, "You would not be able to scratch Inuyasha dressed that way."

"This is how I dress, I don't need your opinion of what I wear everyday."

"You must look the part."

"All I have to do is act the part. You never said I had to _dress _a certain way!" I stopped at the last remaining steps so that I could stand eye level with him.

"What did you assume the ladies of the court wear?"

"I am not a lady of the court! I am your mate and this is how I dress!"

"You will bring me shame dressed as you are."

I growled at him, "What do you propose? I do not own anything that is comfortable, easy to kill in, and is appropriate for a demon counsel!"

He only gave me a hint of fang as he said, "Then I will have to do something about that."

**GreatExpectations**

The vertigo of time-travel is a real kicker. Like a hangover, it can make you feel like you're about to die, or that death is a suitable compromise to revealing the pain. I climbed out of the well without Mr. Demon Lord's assistance, and probably looked incredibly foolish for it too. But right now, the last thing I wanted was to touch Mr. Demon Lord. And if the price of that is to look stupid, I will gladly look stupid.

Kagome grinned as she saw me and waved as she ran for the well. I watched her falter as Sesshomaru emerged from behind me. I wanted to snarl at him. Maybe not so much for scaring my cousin, maybe because I was just pissed and he was a convenient target. Demons don't do much crying.

"You're back!" She exclaimed and I nodded as Inuyasha trotted up next to her. His sneer was far more pronounced than Sesshomaru's.

"'Bout freakin' time ya showed up."

But Sesshomaru isn't the only who doesn't cry. "Back off Dog!" I snapped. Kagome blinked in surprise but the half-breed raised his hackles at me. "I'm not in the mood. Just tell me if we smell right and go away."

He bristled. "Don't tell me what to do, human!"

I grabbed him by his robe and held a knife at his throat. Probably a bit overkill, but I'm irritated and it wasn't like I was going to gut the guy or anything. "I'm done playing games, pup." I watched his eyes carefully as he clamped his mouth shut.

"Y-yeah." He jerked slightly and I let him go and slipped my knife away. He stood close to me and sniffed, in a very delicate fashion to my surprise. I was afraid he was going to get in close like Sesshomaru did. He pulled back and I glowered at him as he put a hand over his mouth and his eyes widened. "Huh," was all he said.

Sesshomaru tensed behind me. But I was the one who demanded what "huh" meant. Inuyasha had the maturity to blush and look away as he said, "It'd convince me." I raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sesshomaru. There was meaning in his look. Something that past between demons as he stepped away from me and stood behind Kagome. I wanted to snarl some more at him, but Sesshomaru silenced me as he slipped his hand around my waist.

"What-?" I turned to shout at him to unhand me, but his gold eyes sparkled in the evening's sunset.

"Inuyasha's senses are confused. He knows it is a rouse, but his demonic nature tells him it is not."

"Great. It worked." I pealed his arm away from me with a fake smile and easily shifted away from him and also stood behind Kagome as well. But I was sure not to touch Inuyasha. He seemed edgy and uncomfortable around me now.

"Let's just get some sleep so we can move on tomorrow." I turned from him and walked away without looking back. Oh, I was so pissed. Stupid demons sharing a joke at my expense. I should have just sliced their stupid heads off.

**GreatExpectations**

"I do not know how you could be surprised." I watched her as she glared at me and circled the small room we were to share. It was a small storage room, free of any one distinct scent, with bedding provided by the old woman, who was frank about keeping Katsumi alive. Thus allowing us to share a room even though it was, to her standards, indecent. Katsumi apparently thought that she was to sleep with the other women, the same room where Rin was sleeping as well.

"I'm not surprised." She retorted. I found it odd for her to start lying to me now. Two days ago she would have shrugged and admit I was correct. Was she _still_ licking her wounds for the way I had toyed with her?

"I'm just missing a bed, that's all." I watched her as she finally ran out of wall and was forced to come to me. It is unnaturally pleasing to watch her come to me.

I adjusted my body to give her a proper place to curl up. She frowned at me and huffed her short hair away from her face as she furled her body along mine. She lay with her back to my side. Wondering how she would react, I rolled over and slid my arm along her stomach – just as I had seen her do in her sleep.

In such speed I was not prepared for, she flew my hand off her and sat up to look down at me. "Are we going to have a problem?"

I raised an eyebrow, "To what are you referring?"

"You said that there were _expectations_ of us." She frowned harder, her teeth nibbling her lower lip.

So she _had_ been stung by my teasing. Interesting. "Yes. It is most common in the newly mated for there to be a great amount of touching."

She glanced at me in worry. "Touching? Like, what _kind_ of touching?"

I settled back as I figured this would be a long conversation. "Like what I have been doing." She shook her head. "What do you not understand?"

It was strange to see her fidget next to me, so close and not touching me. "I've never been touched like that." She rushed ahead as if expecting me to interrupt her. "Nor have I ever touched anyone like that. I don't get close to people. I don't want to. And now, suddenly–" She cut herself off as she waved her hand down at me.

"I don't like being touched," she looked away and her voice was so small I almost missed her next words, "I don't know what to do when you do that."

"You say 'that,' to what are you referring, specifically?" She whipped her head around and stared warily at me, expecting a trap. "If you tell me what bothers you, I will take it into account for the future. Also, if there is something that you would prefer from me, I would need to know that as well."

Slowly, still cautious of a trap she said, "What you did at my aunt's. In the backyard." I held a surge of pride down. I affected her. Good. She made a fool of me; it is regarded only right that I received compensation from it. I waited for her to say it, savoring this moment. "You _licked _me."

"You found this to be… unpleasant." I waited as she worried her lower lip again – her hands twisting in the blanket.

"I was uncomfortable with it."

I nodded as if this was enough for me. "Is there something you would have liked me to do differently?" She blushed, her eyes hardening in embarrassment as she did so, her scent flaring with anger. "I cannot simply ignore you." That was probably going to be her preference. Best to knock it away now.

"I don't know." She snapped, but her voice was quiet again, "I just don't like people touching me." Suddenly she turned on me, looking down at me with a haughtiness in her tone. "Did you like what I did to you?"

I almost scoffed at her. Was she speaking of the most chaste kiss I had ever received in my life? It hadn't been near enough, but it was a start. Everything had to start somewhere, and she started there, which meant that she could not go backwards from there. "I would not mind it if you chose to do it again." She blushed harder her mouth gaping for a second. "Although I do have a preference you could chose to act upon instead."

"I bet you do." She growled at me.

I pushed forward and covered her with my body completely this time. I had taken off the armor and laid it against the wall beside us. I usually do not do this, but I had taken into account that I still needed to continue sharing my scent with hers. Now, I commend my forethought as I pressed her small body, not in any painful manner, into the bedding. "Wouldn't you like to ask me what you could do, what I would prefer you to do?" She was soft underneath me. Her body seemed fragile but I knew she was not made of glass. I reveled in the feel of her small, warm body against mine. For now, it was enough, but I could sense that one day I would wish for more.

She stiffened. "What do you want?" I nearly chastised her for that sharp tongue of hers.

But she asked me, I did not force anything upon her. "You could have taken more initiative."

I watched the way her eyebrows bent inward. "I figured you were a man of initiative. Would you really allow a little human any control over you?"

Her comment made me tilt my head in confusion. First she believes that demons have no feelings for their blood-kin. Now she thinks I wouldn't trust my own mate?

"You forget a mate bond is one of trust. Mates cannot falter from the other. We do not lie to the other. We do not need any other but our mate. Your answer is yes, I would give my mate power over me." She stops squirming; her eyes are wide as she stared at me. I feel the heat of her body, notice the thumping of her heart – and when it begins to race.

"Oh," was all she said. It is silent for a long time as she absorbs what I have told her. I watch her every movement, there is an almost accidental way she rubs her body against mine. It reminds me of the way she looked at me in the kitchen. Finally her eyes meet mine again and I inwardly grin at the hard determination I see in them, "How would I take the initiative?" I nearly fall on top of her. I hadn't expected it to be so easy. A virgin as my mate, untouched by any other, a killer and a villain, now, as I trapped her beneath me she was a soft and sensuous woman.

She huffed as I watched her, growing more agitated, her heart picking up pace, her heat becoming maddening. "I'm new to this. What would you want me to do? If I think I can, I will try to–"

I slipped my tongue against her neck, just under her hairline. Then I traced it upward and around the shell of her ear. I was certain to go slow with my movements. Now, everything would be a lesson to her. I would teach her everything, everything I wanted. Never had I such an opportunity presented itself to me. Never had I thought I would desire such an opportunity.

She was so responsive, stilling for a second before she warily called out my name. My name, no honorific, no title, just my name. I felt her hands grip my clothing, her palms suddenly smoothing the fabric before she seized it again. Then she was pushing me away.

With reluctance I did so. The face she made was worth it. She was frowning at a spot on my chest, her mouth open as she panted lightly. Then she looked up at me in a heated glare. She pulled me back down to her, and as I allowed her to I wondered why she could not make up her mind. She pushed me away just to pull me back, would she stick her wicked metal under my chin like she had my brother?

In the next instant I felt a small wet tongue glide from just above the fabric of my collar and up the side of my neck. In her movement, her chest rubbed against mine. It was sinful. Her tongue swirled just under my ear as one of her hands pushed my hair away from my neck. It was strange. I never allowed any creature to touch my hair. My attention was brought back to her little tongue as it traced the lobe of my ear, and around until she came to the point.

She stilled and pulled slightly away, perhaps she had forgotten I was a demon. But she came back a second later and to my utter disbelief I felt her teeth nibble the point of my ear. I hissed sharply on an intake of breath. She caught me off guard!

**GreatExpectations**

I don't know what possessed me, but I actually found myself enjoying the role of "mate." It was a relief to feel Sesshomaru's arm wrapped securely around me, his hot breath on the back of my neck, and to hear his hiss of surprise. Never had I fantasized about this. All the blood and gore and violence of my life pretty much took over my dreams. There was no one back home I thought was appealing. Anyone who was too good to be true generally was.

Sesshomaru…

This _demon_ was different.

Well, yes, it in part was Sesshomaru that I liked. But now, here, doing whatever it was we were doing, I realized what I really liked was this "mated" business. The bond did not call for cheating, lying, and above all it _did_ demand trust. What girl wouldn't want that? This kind of security, it was breath-taking.

I pulled away from the demon lord and stared at him. The fact that I get to sample this bond with him was just a plus side. He was breath-taking! He was not so demanding of my actions, more so he just wanted me to make choices. Waiting and wanting for me to come to him, not the other way around. He would lay in wait of me to ask, to make the choice of seeking the knowledge. He didn't just want to give me everything.

In a way that sounded more up my alley. If he had just been giving me all the answers, if he had been as indifferent as when I first met him, I probably wouldn't have cared twice about this demon court.

His eyes were dark, sinister in the blackened room. I wondered if they were red.

"Should I do something like that?" I still had a solid grip in his hair. It was impossibly soft, like a baby kitten – an interesting comparison that made me want to giggle. Quite honestly I wanted to stroke my fingers through his long silver hair until we both fell asleep. As I watched the glitter of his eyes darken in the night I wondered why I become so damned cocky?

His voice held more emotion than I ever heard before, a low growl, nearly terrifying in the darkness. "Yes."

Just that one word and I shivered. I berated myself about it, he was right on top of me and he _must_ have felt it as well. But there was no time for that. I put a hand on his lips when he dipped in close again. "We need sleep." He licked the pad of my fingers and I had to use every bit of control I had to not squeal and pull away. "Sesshomaru, _I_ need sleep."

For some reason this stilled him. He looked at me sharply then pulled away from me carefully as he lay in the bedding just as before and I curled up by his side. One thing can be said about a demon lord that I didn't know until now, they are very warm. I wouldn't have to fear of catching my death in the chilly night.

Before I actually did fall asleep, Sesshomaru curled himself right up against my body, wrapping his arm around my own and gripping my hand tightly and without any pain. I sighed, wondering how impossible it was for me to be sleeping right next to a demon lord, when a couple of days ago I wanted to murder him in cold blood.

Of course, that wasn't the worst part. Could I really call myself an Executioner when no kind of jewelry, demonic or otherwise, forced me to lick Sesshomaru?

**Ok, announcements! I'm going to address the reviewers whose comments struck me. I hope this will help you understand the universe I have created. **

**To **Master Sess**:**

**I can see where you don't like the idea of Sesshomaru losing to a human. How can he lose, though, if he isn't serious to begin with? If he were serious, as Katsumi is definitely aware of, he could easily beat her. She is unpredictable and he (in chapter 9) undermines her abilities. He doesn't use poison claws or his whip, and it was quite easy to disarm her. He just tests her. **

**Also, if you read it carefully, Katsumi begins to move faster, hit harder, and she ignores her own limits. Although that is mostly addressed here in chapter 10, I hope it sorta satisfies your displeasure. If you are still unhappy, please don't let that one little fight put you off; Sesshomaru is by no means going to lose to a little human. **

**To **HarunoMarina**:**

**I cannot believe I still had a typo in that chapter! I don't know how many times I reviewed it before I posted it! Gah! Thanks, for letting me know, I'll be sure I don't confuse Sesshomaru's anatomy again!**

**To my other reviewers:**

**I am so happy you love my writing! It is really rewarding to find comments in my inbox and read all the (somewhat short) pleas for me to continue this story and get you the next update asap. It really warms my heart and makes me open up a word doc right then and there (even though there is so much homework waiting for me). Thank you very much!**

**Happy Easter to you all! **


	11. Kinu The Silk Spinner and the new Kimono

**This chapter is dedicated to **Ch3nya: **No, I don't think it's weird at all! It means I'm doing a good job! And to **Jekka: **I am so pleased that you enjoy my writing! I hate spelling; I really thought I got it all… ^_^'**

Kinu, the Silk-Spinner, and the New Kimono

"Don't you say a word," I snarled at my cousin first thing in the morning. It was dawn. Flat-out, no lie, Dawn. And I was up and moving about without a drop of caffeine in my blood. I shot a hateful glare at the demon lord. Who gets up at dawn, willingly? I ask you, who!

Kagome pouted, "I wasn't gonna…" From her tone she was definitely going to say something crude about me sleeping with a demon. I was already stressing about _that_ without her pestering.

Inuyasha did not heed the warning. "What's it like, sleeping with _our_ kind?" he sneered. There's tension between Inuyasha and I. Ever since I came back I could feel his bitterness towards me. Maybe it was when I tried to take Kagome back with me without his _consent_.

But right now, I didn't care a lick of what this half-breed thought. I kicked him sharply where _any_ male hates to be kicked. I don't care what your breed is, the jewels are the jewels. He contorted his features into a comical display of pain and surprise. It did nothing to soften my sour mood. I passed him, signaling with body language that he was invisible to me now.

Sango and the perverted monk were still asleep and I loathed them for it. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair, but this was a real kicker to my bitter streak. _They_ got to sleep; _I_ had to be up at some ungodly hour to march my way to my doom.

I watched Sesshomaru warily as I caught up to him. What happened last night... I blushed and it hurt. Oh, whatever happened last night was _not_ going to happen again. I don't go looking for temptations; I don't barter with the forbidden. This _thing_ between Sesshomaru and I was temporary. Get in, fake a mate bond, get out. Easy-peasy. All I had to do was play a role and not get killed. I could do that.

I passed the dragon-horsy thingy Rin was sleeping on – of course the child would get to sleep in – and tromped down the dirt path and away from Kagome. Get in, fake a mate bond, get out. Then we go off into the mountains, disintegrate our matching jewelry, and I'm out of here. Kagome was doing just fine without me. She didn't need me. And she was right about her stupid well, she could keep it! Hell, if it was my choice, I'd never step foot in this country, at any time, ever again!

There were too many things wrong here. I felt Sesshomaru's eyes on the back of my head. A warning flag, an alarm siren, flashes of lighting, crashes of thunder, and a whole typhoon of trouble was heading my way. I growled at the fog in front of me. What I really needed was another minion to interrogate. Nah, what I _really_ needed was some aspirin and a bottle of Jack. _That's_ what I needed.

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheNewKimono**

My mood did not improve with the day. Everything bothered me, every stupid plant, every step I took, every sound I heard. I was hard, on edge, and I blamed every second of it on the demon lord. The things he did to me… He was a _demon_. He didn't think about the things he did. There was no registering that what he was doing was wrong. Hell, maybe he did know and he did it anyway?

Demons were lairs and trouble. I killed demons that made me feel the way Sesshomaru did.

_Oh come off your high horse! No demon has _ever_ made you feel the way Sesshomaru does._

I growled at my conscious. It isn't fair when your own mind is pitted against you.

_I'm just saying it like it is. And you know it too. You _chose_ to do those things. _You _licked _him_. If you remember correctly._

I remember just fine, thank you! I had licked him, and it had been completely out of character for me to do it. I don't play too close to… well, everyone. I glowered at my boots. When was the last time I was ever so close to someone else? I mean, I didn't even sleep in the same bed as my parents when I was little.

I told my dad I thought there was a monster under the bed, and he gave me a pen-light and a Bowie knife. Who does that to a five-year-old?

So… I'm a little unorthodox…

_A little?_

Ok, so I'm pretty screwed up, but that is no excuse for what happened last night.

_Did you enjoy it?_

Maybe… I'm sure I was supposed to. But I had been freaking out the whole time. I couldn't help but think of the way Sesshomaru stared at me in the kitchen, with his red eyes pinning me down. All it took were his eyes and I was a goner. I bared my teeth at a grasshopper that jumped too close to me.

_You're remembering something bad, aren't you?_

Bad, huh? Of course that had been bad. Fourteen years old, I was just a scrawny punk and I went in on my own into a den full of…

Something solid hit my face and I fell ass over tea kettle. I grumbled and cursed as I looked up at Sesshomaru's inquisitive stare. Oh man, usually I'm more perceptive than that! What the heck did I miss while I was stuck in a bitter streak?

"Come. I have something to show you." If I could kill him, I think I would. Pondering the consequences, I sat in the dirt and I narrowed my eyes at him. I was sick of that demanding attitude of his too. What a cocky jerk! Do this. Do that. Come here. Go there. Blah. Blah. Blah. I shook my head.

When I looked up Sesshomaru was waiting on me. I sighed heavily as I gathered myself up and followed him to the crest of a steep hill. On the other side was a great sight to see.

It was a town. Not some scrawny village, but a modernized and greatly inhabited town. Well, "modernized" by ancient Japanese standards. I watched in fascination at the stalls that lined the dirt path that looked like the first road I've come upon. People shouted about their wares, honest to goodness wares, stores and bazaars and so many people. My eyes shot everywhere as I subconsciously let Sesshomaru lead me around.

The more I looked I suddenly came to a horrible conclusion. These weren't "people." More than half of every creature in this town was a demon. I felt my blood freeze and my hands itch to take a knife in each grip. I stepped closer to Sesshomaru, but I made sure to keep my emotions in check. I was surprised. I was not scared.

"You should have warned me." I muttered to him. His head turned ever so slightly, not enough for me to get a good look at him.

He only said, "Stay close," then he went back to his brisk walk.

Amazingly, the crowd _moved_ for Sesshomaru. Sure, he had a two-headed horse-y thing, but that was not the weirdest of what I came across. My hand twitched again. "We're too noticeable," I grumbled at his back.

"No one will harm us." He sure did sound sure of that. I'm a skeptic. Perhaps Sesshomaru has come to this conclusion as well because he said "They know I am a Lord, they will not touch me." Oh, good. So they won't touch _him_, but I was fair game. I took a quick glance around me and realized there was a great deal of humans here too. It took some of the edge off, but I was about as jerky as caffeine addict.

"Huh…" Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow and I shared my thoughts. "I didn't think there was a Community here." He followed my look toward the human merchants selling their craft to a blue-skinned demon flock. They appeared to be in a heated debate about pricing, but I noticed that was all they were debating about. No one was trying to kill anyone, no one was eating anyone. It was strange to see the same kind of rules applied so far back in time as in my own time.

"Not everyone agrees with the…" he looked at me with amusement as he used my term, "Community. Humans understand that demons are stronger, some demons understand that humans have numbers." I nodded. It was the same in my time. Human densely out populated the demon world.

"Do you agree with the Community?" He almost smiled. I could feel it.

"Yes." He said then continued at a quicker pace.

I wanted to ask where we were going, but I had a strong feeling he wouldn't tell me. I glanced at the wares and grimaced at some of the stalls. Demon teeth were sold with human finger bones, old runes and pottery, tapestries and stained glass bottles full of strangeness. It was a true Community. Whatever you needed you could get, whatever your preference you could bargain for.

_Whatever _your preference, and that meant slavers. Though the only place to find slaves (both human and demon alike) was on the black market, here in ancient Japan, slaving was just another means of trading. It wasn't illegal, only another part of life.

I hate slavers. I've done my hits of dens, back when I was just a newbie and cleaning up the mess the Executioners made. The slaves are pinned up like sheep for a slaughter, or chained up to the walls like dogs. And it isn't always the demons doing business. Sometimes it is necessary to spill human blood for the Executioners. It isn't often, hardly ever it seems, but it happens when the topic of slavers is addressed.

I'm not one of those kinds of Executioners, yet.

Sesshomaru moved at a quick pace; he knew where he was going, and I watched the faces of those he past. There was a fear and an acceptance to him. No one even second glanced at Rin. The toad had to run to keep up, but people made way for him as well. I tried to keep my head down and look as innocent as Rin. Hard to do when I've got two knives and a Katana at my back.

But as I watched I realized it was my appearance that made the spectators second glance me. I suppose jeans and a motorcycle jacket were not in style right now. The females pointed to my jeans and giggled behind their hands in a dainty fashion. I wondered if I could get away with cutting those condescending hands off.

This time I was ready when Sesshomaru stopped. I stared at the store in curiosity as he slipped an arm around my middle back. "A seamstress?" I pondered as he gently pushed me into the shop. It was cramped and hot and about the size of a closet. There were five women sitting at one long table, each one hunched over painfully as they were stitching an elegant pattern on one long piece of fabric.

"Kinu!" Sesshomaru commanded the attention of every lady inside. Not a single one moved as I heard the rustling of fabric from behind the long narrow door at the end of the shop. "Kinu," he called and a muttering answered him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep your smalls on!" There was more rustling and it sounded like something fragile smashed into a million pieces before the door finally opened. A woman, seven feet tall, a size double zero, and long, incredibly long, and slender fingers the length of my forearm greeted the demon lord. Her ribcage protruded outward like she was starving, and her back was hunched just slightly – maybe do to the tight space. However, it was her eyes that caught me. They were entirely filled with black ink, but there was a sharpness to them, they could see right through you. And it would hurt. Oh goodie, another demon friend that could kill me easy.

You know that phrase, don't judge a book… Blah. Blah. Blah. Well, that phrase doesn't apply to Executioners. If you don't judge a demon correctly the first time, they could very well kill you the second they get the chance. This demon, this Kinu, could kill me. She was by no means, some minion I could shove around. Kinu wasn't like Sesshomaru – I doubt anyone is like Sesshomaru – but she was deadly in her own right.

But I'm not stupid. I was not going to let some demon scare me this time. I could see her, for all her terrifying power, and I understood it.

A quick second glance at the ladies at the table told me they were her minions, same species, just not as powerful, not as deadly.

"Oh? My Lord Sesshomaru? 'Tis a delightful surprise to find you in _my_ shop." She grinned with approval, like a cat with cream, and I practically suffocated in this demon's pride. My hands twitched again, my palms itching to hold silver. Now, I'm stuck in a close space with a demon seamstress – probably older than dirt – Mr. Demon Lord, Rin, Jakken, and the handful of demon minions watching their Lady's head swell.

The demon's black eyes stared at me, suddenly picking up my nervous tension, no doubt. We stood there for five whole seconds, neither moving until she finished deciding whatever she was going to think about me. Then she took a long sniff, as if she had a cigarette and was savoring the cancer. Sesshomaru gave a disgruntled and elegant huff which brought the demon's gaze back to him. In that movement, she twitched like a bird; her long fingers went from limp noodles to sharp claws in a second.

I placed a hand on one knife. Casual and slow. Like they do in the old western movies, right before someone snaps and there's a dead body on the floor.

"Didn't know you tumbled in the dirt, Sesshomaru." Her voice was husky and rough, like she smoked but sultry and cultured at the same time, reminding me of an old forty's Hollywood star. She had the double zero figure for it. Her long fingers trailed along her lips and chin as she eyed me up and down. Ah, the ol' sizing up the competition. I didn't partake in much of the high school cultural norms, but this one you simply cannot avoid.

I felt the demon lord tense beside me. He pulled his lips back ever-so-slightly to show his fangs. "Kinu, you will address my _mate_ with more respect than that."

If you want to shock an old demon, I suppose telling them you're mated to a human is the way to go. Kinu physically flinched, as if Sesshomaru had backslapped her, her own set of fangs showed, four on the bottom and two on top I noticed. She hissed as she flung a gesture at me, "That little slip of a thing?" Then she barked out a shrill laugh. I narrowed my glare. The other demon women were sizing me up as well, each one with a mixture of disapproval and mourning as they did so.

Yup, I took Mr. Demon Lord off the market. How do you like them apples?

"She isn't fit enough to lick the floor you've walked on." She giggled.

Nerves made me snap at Sesshomaru, "What are you doing?"

He stared at me expectantly, waiting for something, playing a game I did not understand the rules to. Again I felt the heated anger from earlier. I was soooo going to deal with him after this nonsense.

"Human," Kinu addressed me, her laugher gone. "Do not speak to your betters."

I scoffed at her. "Do not presume to think you can tell me what to do." I gave her my best I'm-going-to-murder-you-in-cold-blood face. The ones I save for the demons I bother to take the time to actually introduce myself to. She faltered. I saw it in her black eyes. A hesitancy that clearly said "point one: Katsumi." And she knew it the second she flinched. I smirked, "I assume we have business here," I said to Sesshomaru, jerking my head at Kinu just as she had gestured to me earlier, "but I believe we can do better elsewhere."

The demon-woman fumed at that. She hissed at me but I didn't even bother to glance her way. After showing me a weakness I suddenly classified her as nonexistent. And if telling an old-fashioned demon you're mated a human doesn't shock them, then flat-out ignoring it will most definitely do the job.

"Do you even know who I am? I am the Silk-Spinner! I am a legendary seamstress! I am-"

"**Not. Worth. My. Time.**" I repeated, shoving my Influence at her as if it were a throwing knife. She flinched again, gasping a horrible hissing sound as she did so. I turned my back on her now and glared at my "mate" as I did so. _You are sooooo dead_!

"Stop." I only did so because Sesshomaru had not moved from his spot. Clearly he was expecting something still. I tossed a glance over my shoulder. "F-forgive me." Kinu begged. She was on the floor, bowing so respectfully I immediately felt a sickness of dread settle inside the pit of my stomach. "Forgive me for my rudeness to the Lord of the Westland's mate. I will dutifully create whatever you wish of me. I will craft such a garment of extraordinary beauty for you, Hum-uh…" She looked up startled. In the movies, you never see the creature with the black eyes look so…pitiful. Sure, they can fake it, but you know it's faking so _obviously_ you can't even bother to feel sorry for the sucker who falls for it. Kinu was like a beaten, bleeding, and starving homeless puppy stuck in the rain. It actually hurt to see this demon look so lost and scared and pathetic.

I sighed and turned back to face her. "Katsumi," I said and waved a hand at her "Get up already." I wasn't stupid to get within touching distance of those ugly fingers, "Just call me Katsumi."

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheNewKimono**

"I am surprised."

"I bet you are."

Ah, there was that sarcasm again. We are going to have to work on that before the counsel. At Kinu's beckoning, she stood on a pedestal, her arms out wide as Kinu's attendants measured the woman. She glared hot daggers at me as they did so. We are going to have to work on that as well.

"Dear, what is troubling you?" She visibly paled at my words. I could see how much she wanted to scream at me, but she merely glanced at the attendants, always careful to watch each long finger as the measuring tape was past between them.

Before she could respond Kinu slipped into the private room with samples of material draping her long, slender fingers. "I'll tell you what is bothering her," she announced, no longer the simpering weakling she was before, "You are making her nervous. How is a mate suppose to look her very best if you sit there scrutinizing her all the time? I mean," she eyed the strange attire Katsumi had chosen and _tsked_ at it, "I can see _why_ you brought her to me."

The woman's hand twitched and I knew she was itching for one of her blades, each one carefully guarded by me as she was stripped to a mere robe. I smirked as her eye met mine. "If I do not approve-"

The Silk Spinner cut me off, again, "Let me do my job, Lord of the Westlands." She eyed Katsumi in a detached and impersonal manner. "By the time I'm done with her, she will put every demon lady to shame!"

Before I concurred, I watched her as she begged me in her strange way not to leave. Her eyes hard, anger rolling off her in waves, that promise of pain and suffering if I chose to leave her behind. Oh yes, it was worth it to see such a stare. "Very well, Kinu. I leave her to you." And silently I slipped out the narrow door and back into the main room where Rin and Jaken waited.

"Was it wise, my Lord?" Jaken wrung his hands as he looked up at me. I waited for him to continue. "The woman, she doesn't understand your ways, if you do not warn her, she may very well end up embarrassing you in some way."

The thought had come, and gone. Katsumi seemed to pick things up quickly. She worked better on her own. If I had warned her, if I had in anyway tried to prepare her for everything, she would be completely dependent on me. It would be troublesome to have her as a mate and be so dependent upon me for such trivial matters.

Not to say that she shouldn't depend on me for some matters. However, the way she had attacked Kinu's pride… It was as if she _knew_ where to hit the seamstress. She held her Influence at the ready the moment she locked eyes with me. In her first few moments with the demon, Katsumi understood her.

"M-my Lord?"

"Do not concern yourself with Katsumi embarrassing me." I told my advisor. "She will do no such thing. That is why we are here, are we not?" After all, it had been Jaken who offered me the suggestion to bring her to Kinu in the first place.

"Y-yes, my Lord. Of c-course, my Lord. The Silk Spinner will be able to make her look just as your mate should." It took some convincing of my advisor of my plan. He did not entirely approve, but he knew I had decided this. There was no alternative for me.

"Is she _really_ the 'one,' Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin grinned as she played with the golden tassel one of the attendants gave her. There was a pinkness in the little one's cheeks as she brushed the tassel across her nose. "Will you get married? Will she live with us?" She smiled up at me, expecting all her answers to be yes.

I could feel Jaken's unspoken fretting as he ran up to Rin and hushed her, "It isn't polite to ask Lord Sesshomaru these things!"

Rin only giggled, "I like her, Lord Sesshomaru. She's pretty and strong. I think she likes you too."

Her last comment brought me to a pause. I glance from the door back to her. "How do you know this?"

With another giggle she said, "It's so obvious when she looks at you! Her face gets all pink and her eyes sparkle!" It was strange, but I could feel my face relax into surprise. I thought Rin was to be the only one who could surprise me. Now she and Katsumi were a pair.

"She did not look at me all day." Unless she was glaring daggers at me.

"Not when you are looking! Of course not! You keep making fun of her and you'll scare her off though." She wagged a finger at me as if she were scolding me. But the tassel in her hand swished with each move and Rin only smiled in a knowing way.

The little one was growing up. And becoming quite perceptive.

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheNewKimono**

I tried to act civil to the demon as she laid cloth after cloth against my skin. She'd _tsk_ and huff and grumble to herself as she threw out the ones she didn't like, gave the maybe's to her attendants, and nodded when she found something she deemed "adequate."

What I really wanted to do was run from the room. It was like shopping with my mother. I hated shopping with my mother. Of course that had been when I was little. We haven't gone shopping together since I was nine. Since I was old enough to start training I started coming home with some kind of blood on my clothes and I only went shopping when one of the half-breed trainees took me.

I hadn't had something new in years.

It kinda felt weird to have Sesshomaru buy me clothes.

Of course he only did this because my clothes were similar to what peasants wore, or the whores – Kinu was so kind as to offer an explanation to the whispering I received. I sighed as she nodded at some kind of ivory material with a light green floral stitching.

Kinu eyed me, "No?" She didn't sound offended.

"I would prefer something dark." I thought about the demons of the court. Some blood was going to be spilt, surely. There was no way I was going to walk into the biggest den I had ever infiltrated wearing ivory. It's a big fashion no-no when there's the threat of a slugfest involved. The seamstress seemed to ponder on that as she tossed the ivory material aside. She held her long fingers up to her black eyes and pulled a heavy strip of dark blue cloth out from her rags. She held it up against my face, nodded to herself then laid the fabric on my forearm. Even as small as the sample was I knew it would be impossible to move in a dress made of this stuff.

"Too heavy," I said.

Kinu stared at me for a second then nodded and offered me a smile as she took out several other scraps from her collection and tossed them behind her. Then she pulled out another one, a dark green with intricate and elaborate gold and pink designs all over it. She offered it to me before making a decision herself. I took the fabric and studied it.

"I think it would clash with Sesshomaru's…"

The seamstress's smile widened. "Thinking like a mate, now." She nodded at me. She improved my input. It made me relax a little knowing I was doing fine without Mr. Demon Lord. I didn't need him, not now. I knew he wasn't far, so I wasn't freaking out. He had my silver too, that was a slight problem, so of course he wouldn't go far. With that in mind I managed to act polite in a closed space with six demons and one unarmed me. I should be getting major brownie points for this.

Kinu went back into a delicate box and placed all her scraps inside it. I frowned at that. Was I too demanding? Could she make something for an Executioner? Kinu gave me a sidelong smile as she closed the lid. "I like you." She said, "All these materials are cheap, not even close to good-enough for the mate of the Lord of the Westlands." Turning around she grabbed an even more delicate box off the top shelf. "You have an eye for great things." I held down a blush as her smiled widened.

"This is something I've been saving. Your mate won't know what hit him!"

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheNewKimono**

It took hours. _HOURS!_ I don't think I've managed to be with a half-breed for half that! Kinu was a master at her craft, but she wanted me at her side the whole to time express my thoughts. I needed it to be loose in some places, tighter in others. My hidden arsenal needed to be easy to access while I demanded I'd be modestly covered. Kinu would not budge on certain things and there was a point there when, if I had a single blade on me, I would have severed some important artery.

Whether it would be her artery or mine is still up for debate.

Kinu's tastes and knowledge of fashion forced me into something I would never have worn, _ever_! She was the Silk-Spinner, however, not I. She would know what the demon ladies would be wearing. And if I showed up in, well, let's say for kicks, jeans and a tank top, the ladies would eat me alive.

The demon seamstress knew a thing or two about new mates and she told me about when some mates that were never socially accepted. If the demon ladies didn't recognize me, then it wouldn't matter who Sesshomaru was, what he was lord over, or what he said, I would be forever shunned. It was just as bad as the lords dueling over Sesshomaru's honor. If I lost to the ladies then I was royally screwed. As strange as it sounded, it made sense. Executioners judged demons in a split-second of decision. Why shouldn't the demons judge me in the same way?

I needed to look the part. Sesshomaru had told me so before, but I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Much as I hated to admit it, Mr. Demon Lord knew what he was talking about. Even if he was vague and opaque and typically left me alone to understand everything by myself.

What was all that talk before about not asking for trouble? About knowing my limits and staying away from temptations and the like?

I am such an idiot.

This is not my show. The rules are almost the same, but they're not. I need Sesshomaru right now; I need to make him look good for his counsel. It's already bad enough he has to tell the world he's mated to a human. I don't need to pour salt on the wound by being stubborn and incompetent. That kind of thinking could get me into a lot of trouble in my world. Here, I'd probably die in some gruesome and horrifying way.

I stared at the masterpiece Kinu had created. It took my breath away.

"All right, Mistress." The Silk-Spinner bowed her head as her attendants spread out around me, surrounding me, closing me in. "Let's make those bitches cry out in shame!"

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheSilverKimono**

It was taking too long. Jaken had taken Rin out to buy the girl something to eat. Katsumi never bothered to tell me if she was hungry like Rin did. But I would take her out _if_ she ever emerged from that blasted room. I shouldn't have let Kinu talk me out of there. If I leave her completely to her own devices, this woman would… No, I had already decided she would not embarrass me.

I left her because I believed she would make the right decisions. I trusted her.

But if I must wait another insufferable five minutes then I will splinter that door.

I heard the attendants' fluttering feet and the door creaked open.

**Kinu,theSilk-Spinner,andtheSilverKimono**

I closed my eyes and held my breath. Why? I don't know why! I just did! I mean, would he like it? I picked out the color and the design. I was too nervous. What if he didn't like it? What if he turned me around to try again? What if he locked me back up with these six demons?

No, I'm not ok.

I don't dress up. There was _never_ an occasion where I wore anything close to a dress in my life.

As messed up as it sounded, I couldn't take it if he didn't like it. I decided I wouldn't burden him anymore than I have. If he didn't like it, then I failed to look the part of his mate! I failed to learn the rules! I failed!

I don't like failing.

By now he's had to have seen me. I could just imagine him scrutinizing every inch of me. His too-intense eyes would check every stitch, every single inch of me to see if I was up to par with his courtly ladies. I wish my hair was done. It's probably too short to do anything with, but I felt like maybe I was missing something. And if I felt it, then Sesshomaru saw it, surely.

Why wasn't he saying anything?

I peeked up at him slowly, expecting some kind of boiling, silent fury at my incompetence. He was standing stiff and rigid as he observed me. His eyes a sharp, dark gold, like molten lava, his jaw was clenched, the claws of his hand here elongated and it looked like any moment his muscles would snap and there would be dire consequences.

I laughed in a nervous manner. "So, do you like it?" I ran a hand through my hair and Kinu _tsked_ at me for fidgeting. She put my hand down and smirked in a knowingly feminine way, with one of her long fingers pressed against her smile. Her black eyes glittered as she looked back at Sesshomaru without moving her face.

When I stared back at my "mate" he was much closer than before. I nearly jumped, but with the other demons watching us I barely managed to hide my frazzled nerves. "Well?" I urged him even though I shouldn't. But I was dying to know what he thought!

I gave myself a once-over again. Violet was _definitely_ my color. It was looser than normal _kimonos_ but it was in no way indecent. The sleeves were only as long as my elbow, but there was extra material connected to it so that it appeared the sleeve traveled over my hand and more material spread out from my elbow, giving the impression of wings in my opinion. All the extra material was difficult to maneuver, but I could use it easily as a distraction. The collar was loose as well, I felt constricted in any of the high-collar fashions, just showing off my collarbone.

The belt, or whatever it was called, was a bright, cherry red, and it look lovely against the dark purple. A shiny black embellishing cord decorated the belt and I felt a mild sense of female pride at the way I looked. There were no patterns, but Kinu told me as a day _kimono_ it didn't need them.

When I caught Sesshomaru's eyes again, the lava was starting to boil over.

"What?" I snapped without meaning to. He was making me nervous again, as twitchy as a mouse in a cat's den.

"You surprise me." He said. I wasn't sure if the other demons understood that, but I heard the hardness in his voice. It may have been cruel to anyone else, but it was by no means uncaring or indifferent. I waited for him to say it though. He had embarrassed me, snuck up on me and scared the living daylights out of me.

I _needed_ to hear it from him.

"You look lovely."

If I could have, I would have done the most retched, girly dance in the universe. Thank God I have some control over myself!

"_Here, you would thank your mate for such a compliment, or bestow a gift that would say as such."_

I watched as he turned toward Kinu, to probably pay the woman but my hand shot out without permission from my brain. Sesshmaru stilled as he looked back at me, his eyes questioning but every other part of him a statue of calmness. I pulled slightly at the wrist I managed to capture. Kinu politely excused herself, to get the other garments she made me. Her attendants bustled back into the private back room as well.

When Sesshomaru was facing me fully, I brought his wrist up and smiled as I rubbed my nose against the warm flesh there. I could feel his pulse. He was nervous. Huh, of anything he could have said, the racing of his pulse was what made my cheek flush. My eyes locked with his as I kissed the inside of his wrist. "Thank you."

**Whew! This is the longest chapter so far! ^_^ Yay! **

**Like, YYYYAAAAYYYY, all things considered. Sorry it has been so looooooong. I kinda played with Kinu for awhile there, not really liking anything she did. I got stuck in several spots too, eventually I just skipped some stuff and realized that I just rushed through it. Doesn't feel that way, does it? I mean, it's just 10 pages in word so it may not seem rushed to y'all but I don't know how I feel about this chapter. **

**Well… Except for the end ;) **


	12. The Demon Counsel Convenes

**This one is for **xUNGracefulxAssassin; **thanks for the wonderfully original review! Please enjoy this chapter my dear readers!**

The Demon Council Convenes and a Duel is Challenged

She was a devil.

She had to be.

Her smirk, the way she held my hand – like she _owned_ my hand – and the way her eyes caught fire as she stared at me unwaveringly. To be so _proud_, she had to have demon blood in her veins. Where did the little human go? Where was the little woman I could control with but a look? Where did this demon come from and how did she steal Katsumi's place?

"Thank you, my lord," she murmured against my hand, forcing me to strain to hear her. When she tilted her head and her eyes flickered between mine I wanted to growl at her behavior.

Whether it was from desire or frustration, I could not tell. Quite frankly, I was beginning to forget why I couldn't swoop down and make my rightful claim right there. But the rummaging around in the back room reminded me that business needed to be done. Straightening I looked down on her, and she merely let my hand go with a knowing smile. Nevertheless, she no longer appeared nervous around me.

Good.

Very good.

"Kinu mentioned more?"

Katsumi shrugged, "She said I couldn't just have the one," she gestured to the rich, violet kimono. "She was adamant about it," under her breath she grumbled. "And I'm not sure where she will send them."

I nodded and called for the Silk-Spinner – she would take this opportunity to use me for her business. That had been the plan when I came here after all. Give a little and receive an abundance. The Silk-Spinner was at the top of the gossip food chain. If I wanted Katsumi established as my mate _before_ we arrived at the counsel, then this was demon that could do it. When she appeared I paid her graciously and offered directions where Katsumi's apparel was to be sent. Before she could utter a reply, I led her out of the shop and into the fresh evening air.

Secretly I dislike the cramp confinements of the shop. I would not admit out loud to any soul that I could not stand close quarters. Though, if need be I would have sat there all night, until Katsumi emerged I would not have left her. That said I detested the tight space, the warm breeze a small blessing as I ushered the woman toward an oncoming Rin and Jaken.

"Katsumi! Would you like one?" The girl offered a stick with globs of meat on it, dripping in sauces. The woman smiled as she plucked the stick up and nibbled discreetly – she did not ask whatever it was the girl offered.

It was odd for her to be so careful; normally she would have torn into the meat with earnest, considering she had not eaten anything since this morning. I watched her as she chewed and swallowed slowly, not savoring the meal in the least. In fact, I am sure she didn't taste it at all. Her eyes were drifting somewhere over Rin's head as the girl carried on about the new kimono.

I frowned as I studied her.

"Come. This way," I said and assumed she would follow. She did, just as close as I had expected. Rin giggled as she walked ahead of us and Jaken struggled to stay a step and not a hundred behind me.

**TheDemonCouncilConvenes**

Another store and another cramped environment where another demon had to be put in his place as he disrespected Sesshomaru's "_mate_," I was beginning to tire of this town already. Although… It's kinda hard to be mad… I mean…

"Are you going to sit here all day and make a fool of my lord?" The toad screeched in indignation. I just grinned with all the malice I had saved up from the day and glared down at the toad. He shivered and sped off throwing curses over his shoulder as he did so.

Contented to be alone I smiled down at my feet again.

He bought me shoes.

Another unexpected giggle surged in my gut and I barely kept quiet by the utter embarrassment that would follow. There was no harm in _admiring_ my new boots. They were black but iridescently shimmering in the setting sun. I turned them this way and that; blues, greens, pinks, purples, like a pearl my new boots glittered as they mirrored my glee. I haven't had new shoes in years.

And Sesshomaru bought them for me.

I grinned in stupidity as I swished my kimono to the side to see all of the dark material. So black it was sinful the dragon-scale boots were tougher than steel and light as silk. I wasn't sure if it was completely necessary for them to clad all the way up to my knee, but I wasn't complaining either.

My leather ankle-boots were garbage compared to these beauties.

Rin ooed and awed at my gift in girlish fashion as the toad simmered in dejected pain. I tossed her glossy brown hair as my cheeks burned from smiling so much. Really, when was the last time I felt so happy? When had I ever received something from anyone _just because_.

"So pretty!" the girl exclaimed.

"And expensive!" Jaken grumbled.

The girl scoffed at him, "Lady Katsumi is Lord Sesshomaru's mate! Lord Sesshomaru _gave _them to her because he _loves _her." she turned her hopeful doe-eyes at me, "Right Lady Katsumi? You love Lord Sesshomaru too, right!?"

DAMN!

And just like a bucket of cold water the smile washed away as an unsettling thought crept inside my mind. I was going to have to pay Sesshomaru back for this rouse. The _kimonos_ where bad enough and yet I let him give me these terribly, gorgeous boots! Is there no justice in the world?

I pat Rin's head and gave a sickening fake smile feeling my insides squirm after all that giddiness. "One day, you'll figure things out." She tilted her head in worry. I pushed away from the boulder I perched on to admire Sesshomaru's new bargaining chip. With a shove I raked my hair away from my face and led the three of us into the woods Sesshomaru sent us too while he did his demon-lord-business-stuff alone. I was more than willing to do whatever he told me to at that point.

Is this all it takes to leave me complacent? Some shiny new shoes?!

Jaken skittered as I nearly crushed him like an ant. Did dragon-scales stain?

**TheDemonCouncilConvenes**

"Where've you been?" I said as Mr. Demon Lord entered our encampment stealthily. If my voice disturbed him, it didn't show. I had waited hours for a sound of his approaching, all the while the demon jewelry around my wrist reminded me that he wasn't around and I had to do something about that.

But I'm tired of some trinket pushing me around. So I sat and waited…and waited…and waited… Now the moon was high and the kid was fast asleep and my heart was racing a mile a second. Mr. Demon Lord spoke to his servant about our travels for the next day and to tend to the two-headed horse. I waited some more while he took his sweet time checking the camp – adding wood to the fire, patrolling our surroundings, patting the girl's head and giving her an extra blanket.

Finally he sat next to me, so close but not touching me. I waited a little while longer to see if he'd say anything but he didn't. Exasperated with a game only I seemed to be playing I caved, "What kept you?"

He glanced my way but made no move to pounce on me. "I have made preparations for us to travel to the Demon City tomorrow."

I frowned, "This whole time you were… _preparing_?"

"I do not answer to you." The blow hurt and I just barely managed to keep from flinching. Settling on the grass, I stared at the fire hoping it could fix all of this somehow. We were not really mated. I was not a nagging wife.

Was I a wife at all? Surely I wasn't just a "mate." That sounded so primitive.

_Focus_.

Wrapping my arms around my knees I did all I could to ignore the chill of the air. It got so cold at night in the summertime. This time did not suit me at all. The chirping of the bugs could have appealed to some people, and it wasn't like I was some prim-and-proper city girl. I did my time camping as a kid.

One time my dad took me camping, purposely got us lost, then left me in the middle of the night and timed me on finding my way back on my own with just a bottle of water, a pocket knife, and an extra pair of socks.

See, I'm all about the wildlife.

Sesshomaru leaned over my shoulder to brush my hair away from my face. "What troubles you?" His voice was soft, caressing. Deceiving was more like it, obviously he did not see me as anything more than an inconvenience.

I turned slightly to watch him and looked at his beautiful face. The firelight dance along his cheekbones and the claw marks only enhanced his mysterious beauty. His eyes burned and glittered at the same time. I strayed on the blue mark on his forehead. I had been ignoring it all this time, perhaps I just didn't like how demon it truly made him... "You do not answer to me." I said and pulled away from him. But his arm stilled me as he wrapped it around my back.

I could tell he was having trouble deciding what to say. Trying to move away from him would probably leave me without an arm so I sat down next to him again without touching him. For a long while we didn't say anything. Jaken came into camp then fell asleep just as quickly.

Finally I said, "Thank you, for the boots." The initial glee stirred inside me; maybe my dread hadn't killed it. "I love them."

When he said nothing, I turned up to look at him. There was pride shining in his features. I pleased him. Ok, point: Me. That little thought made me smile and I pulled my legs out from under me to admire my scale boots in the firelight. The iridescent glow shimmered from my ankle up to my knee. When I turned to Sesshomaru again I realized he was watching it too.

Blushing like mad I shoved my kimono down past my feet. That was probably one of the most indecent things I had ever done. I mean, it wasn't like I showed him anything, but… somehow… the way he was looking at me…

"You are welcome." His soothing voice settled over me and was the balm to my scattered nerves – as usual. It just isn't fair for one man to be so… So…

So…what was he? The balm to soothe me? The demon that saved me? The death warrant on my head? What was he? What are _we_?

"Should I be worried? About tomorrow?"

He gave me a slight frown, just barely tilting his eyebrows in, "No." I didn't feel better with that one word.

"What makes you say that?"

"It is because I say you should not worry that you do not worry."

That doesn't even make sense. But who am I to argue. "What about Rin?"

"I will leave her in a safe place. There is a village nearby for human servants of the Lords to stay."

It's a shame I couldn't stay in a safe place. No. _I_ had to go into the belly of the beast, in a dress. At least I had some kick-ass shoes.

The arm at my hip slowly moved away. I felt colder without him so close. When I looked at him questioningly he said, "I do not wish to dishonor you, Katsumi. Before, I was merely interested in your reactions to me."

I glared as he kept staring at the fire, "And what am I now?"

His face seemed to tighten in maybe anger as he turned those glowing eyes my way, "You and I are in this together, Katsumi." He took my hand and held my wrist delicately, the firelight making the demonic jewelry sparkle. "We will deal with this as if it were another pathetic minion of Naraku."

Damn demon lords… I blushed as I clenched my fists and nodded. I surged forward and put both hands on his cheeks. He blinked in surprise but waited patiently to see what I was going to do next. With a quick smile I pressed my lips against his forehead, right over his moon mark. You know what they say about conquering your fears – just jump right in!

When I pulled back Sesshomaru watched me with piercing gold eyes. I think I _finally_ shocked him! I smirked before I sat down and leaned over to lay my head on his arm. Before I knew it I was out, and Sesshomaru hadn't moved an inch.

**TheDemonCounselConvenes**

Sesshomaru was an ass.

He should have warned me.

It was worse than I thought, worse than anything my nightmares could have conjured up. And we weren't even in the bloody building yet! He brought a human to a demon party and everyone knew it. It was like a big neon sign was screaming "_Here I am, the stupid human! Come and eat me_!"

I was going to die. I could feel it. And if I died, Sesshomaru would die. And if he died, um, well… I'm sure that wasn't a good thing… but I couldn't really get pass the fact that well over thirty demons were staring me down with their cold, dead eyes. And none of them look human. They were almost, like Sesshomaru was almost, but they were too beautiful and too devastating, like Sesshomaru was terribly beautiful. Blue skin, green skin, horns, an extra pair of eyes, fur, scales, claws, talons, tails, pinchers, none of it is safe, and all of it is deadly. I was going to die a hundred different ways!

"Calm down." Sesshomaru growled low next to me. _CALM DOWN?!_ That's what you have for me?! I grit my teeth and keep my head down. But my silver shines in the sun and it catches the demons' eyes. Dammit. It will do neither of us good if I cause a bloodbath because I can't keep my emotions in check. They can smell fear. They look for it. They revel in it.

So I shove my scaredy-cat ass into the darkest pits and hold my head up. _Yeah, I'm human. What of it?_

The grand hall, like an entryway of sorts, is filled to the brim with colors and scents and sounds – paraphernalia of demons lounge about for this formal greeting. Here the demons check to see who has come, how many of their entourage tagged along, and to par take in the old custom of meeting with an enemy now rather than have them sneak up on you later.

Although he told me that they all followed a code to never attack outside the realm of a duel, I still felt like my demon forgot to mention something to me.

"Lord Sesshomaru of the West," It's a big guy, a whole foot taller than Sesshomaru with orange, slitted eyes decked out in bronze armor that was spiky and unfriendly. No eyebrows, his skin was slightly scaly, almost bumpy, he had no hair either and his scalp was sharply made, it brought to mind a cobra. He hisses as he talks, so "Sesshomaru" comes out more like a sporadic gas leak than anything else.

"Kyoukou," Sesshomaru greeted the demon with a dry voice, as dry as the demon's skin – a light tan-ish color that made me think of a desert. Oh… Um…Sesshomaru told me about the three main Lords and their mates. Right, this was the mate to the Lady of the South. Huh, why was he talking to Sesshomaru directly and without his mate nearby? Demon etiquette mentioned something about that…

But all I can focus on is that sooner or later today I'm going to die…

"My most sincere apologies my lord, but I fear I must inform you of our law…" he glanced at me and I didn't dare look at him. Head up, eyes straight, don't reach for my weapons just yet. I repeated that last part. And again. This desert demon was rubbing me the wrong way. Or maybe all of them were. I mean, Kyoukou's words suddenly made their intense gaze catch afire. They openly stared at us now, no longer hiding their curiosity, distaste, and rage.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to die soon.

But Sesshomaru only said "Do you think me inept, Kyoukou?" His words were clip and they held a bite to them, like a snake bite – full of deadly venom.

"No! Not at all my lord. I-It's just…" He stared pointedly at me. "No humans are allowed…"

Without missing a beat his gold eyes pierced this other demon with all the molten fury they possessed. And the other demon was frozen into place as if that stare alone struck his heart. Something gooey inside me melted at that stare.

A small, dark demon was suddenly next to the giant Kyoukou as if she had been there the whole time. Her flesh was like marble, a dark green, but there were engraved swirls, like dug in tattoos, and they were glowing like dust on fire. It sprinkled around her like fairy dust, and where it landed the ground singed. She was shorter than Sesshomaru, but taller than me, her ebony hair flowed to the middle of her back, her nails were about as long as my fingers – sharp and straight and reminding me of green spikes.

A pair of horns grew from her hairline, each placed above her eyes, and they came up past her lovely hair then swept back and dipped in a delicate hook. Her kimono was light and simple, but it barely covered anything considering the swirls were burning everything they touched.

She eyed Kyoukou in a disapproving manner, with a mild pout like he stole the last cookie in the jar. "My Love? Is there a problem here?"

The big guy stiffened next to the she-demon. I was having trouble breathing pass the fire dust and her power. It threatened to crash over me like a tidal wave. "No, Desert Flower. No, there is no problem here." He turned to her and the hardness in his face seemed to fade in an instant.

She smiled, her teeth were white and I silently wished I was anywhere but here as I noticed she was missing her eye teeth. Not missing, not really, they were hiding. Snake demons have retractable fangs, just like real snakes. The rest of her teeth were for speaking…

If I'm lucky she's not the demon that kills me. She would paralyze me first. Then she'd probably cut me up while I was conscious. I wouldn't feel it. But she'd probably make me watch it.

It took everything inside me not to shudder at that. Head up, eyes straight, don't touch the silver katana… not yet.

"Good," her sultry, cultured voice was a deep, dark thing as she turned back to greet Sesshomaru. "Lord of the West, you are looking well." She glanced at me and her smile closed as her dark eyes glistened, she was a curious one. Not sure if that's a good thing. "And what do you have here, my lord?"

"Lady of the South, Kinaga," he tipped his head as he greeted her, formally and respectfully. "You are fairing well in this colder climate?"

She flicked her hand as she gave him a small laugh, "Your summers are my winters."

Sesshomaru nodded and slightly bowed again. Then the time I've been dreading came. He placed a hand between my shoulders and pushed me slightly forward, "This, Kinaga, is my mate."

I waited, just as we planned, to gage the others' reactions. Kinaga's features changed ever so slightly. If she had eyebrows she probably would have raised them. But other than that she did nothing else. "Mate?" she asked as if expecting it to be a good joke. When Sesshomaru only nodded again the she-demon flicked her long, silky hair over her stone-like shoulder and eyed me.

It sucks to have a powerful demon eye you like Kinaga was eyeing me. Not quite like a bug under the microscope, or a bug under your shoe. She seemed as if she really was taking me in, all five-foot and change of me. From the weapons strapped to my person, to my fine kimono, to my lovely dragon-scale boots. I waited for her to make up her mind.

When she finally brought her eyes up to mine, I met hers. In that one instant the fear and the turmoil I was silently suffering evaporated into nothingness. I met her gaze proudly. She was powerful and there was a smart fear to be had in the presence of something like her, but I didn't let it consume me. Instead I acknowledged that fear, let it slide pass me, and envisioned my katana stabbing her long neck.

Kinaga bowed her head and gave me a closed-mouth smile, "Well met my lady."

"Well met, Lady of the South." I nodded back, making sure not to go any deeper than her head had. This might be surprisingly easy. There were no rules where I was from. It was kill or be killed, 24/7. No polite greetings, no respectful bows, in fact I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations I had with demons I've killed back in my time.

"My Love," she turned to her mate and I nearly gagged at trying to control my burst of laughter at his face. His features were contorted into a mixture of horror and disbelief and it looked like it hurt as he tried to make up his mind about which he was. "Have you met Lord Sesshomaru's mate?"

"W-well met, m-my lady…" he watched the she-demon next to him as he bowed his head to me. I nodded back and gave a greeting, but I was paying attention to the hand at my back. Sesshomaru hadn't removed it. And his thumb was… stroking me…

Did that mean I was doing well? He would probably stop if I did something stupid. That made me feel immensely better; he hadn't left me to handle all this alone.

But I was also listening to the chatter and hissing and whispers of the other demons of court as Sesshomaru's words spread through the crowd. Sesshomaru, great Demon Lord of the West, was mated to a human – one with foreign weapons – and introduced her to a high lord of the land. It would probably make great gossip for the next couple of decades. I swept my gaze around and watched the ladies frown in disapproval. I'd have to watch my back… Or let Sesshomaru do it… He seemed to be doing such a good job; it'd be rude to not let him.

Plus, I already know I can't do this without him.

"If you would please excuse us, Kinaga," Sesshomaru's hand traveled up my back to my shoulder and steered me past the demons as we made it past the grand entryway we were hold up in as formal introductions were presented, as etiquette called for. I had hoped we were going to move away from this terrible place, but Sesshomaru only steered us in the direction of another demon. Well, I suppose he was going to greet everyone like he was _supposed_ to, but I was kinda hoping I could leave.

A she-demon cut in front of us on Sesshomaru's way to someone. She was small, like _fourteen_ and just hit puberty small. She was pale, too pale, but her hair was flowing long and a strange shade of greenish-blue and it matched her curious, bright eyes – and I inwardly cringed at the sight of her inked out eyes, no whites, sometimes it's just creepy.

When she blinked there were two different lids. A button nose, short eye-lashes, thin eyebrows – everything about her screamed "Child" to me. A hand reached out tenderly to touch me, but we flinched back at the same time. I noticed her hands were webbed, her veins were light green, and her skin was scaled. But I only noticed because I was looking for oddities. Her scales were faint actually; maybe to touch you would have noticed it. Fins poked out of her unruly hair, they looked fragile, almost see-through.

"M-my apologies, Lady!" she squeaked in a cute way too as she bowed at the waist, her back flat. "I-I only meant to wish to p-present you to my master myself." Her green-blue eyes peaked up at me before she shoved them to the ground again, "I-I got c-carried away."

"Youkou," Sesshomaru said, he seemed somewhat tender to this little demon, "you may present us." I raised an eyebrow as the demon stiffened and grinned broadly before leading us in another direction. He leaned down carefully to whisper, "she is a lake demon. Her master is the Lord of the Northern Land."

"A lake demon?" I wondered what she was doing here.

"Many demons bring along the guardians of their land, it shows the others their wealth and power." I wanted to sigh, but that would make Sesshomaru look bad. Instead I thought about something soothing – like a nice cup of hot chocolate while I sat on my old, worn couch with my cat curled up in my lap – and I smiled at him with all the relaxed warmth that memory gave me. His beauty was beginning to grow on me I think. His red marks, the blue crescent moon tattoo, his unnatural gold eyes, and all that silver hair. Maybe with time it'd just became one more thing in my crazy life I'd get use to.

Sesshomaru seemed almost taken-aback by my smile, before the thumb at my shoulder began to circle slowly again. The shimmer in his hot, gold eyes seemed to promise me things I could not begin to describe. I looked away first and once again, the cold face of a sharp warrior was back.

The demon Youkou left us in front of was the oldest looking demon I had seen so far. Back in my time, demons took on whatever form would keep them unnoticed, so the elderly were taken up quite often. But here, it was all about beauty and power. Either this one was ahead of the game, or he really was _Old. _

"Lord of the West, Sesshomaru, and his mate," Youkou said as she flourished a webbed hand our way before she slipped beside the small throne this demon sat upon. As we bowed, Sesshomaru's hand sorta taking me down with him, I noticed we bowed deeper to this guy than we did to Kinaga. Maybe it was because this guy was sitting down and had not raise when we came up.

I waited until Sesshomaru let me up before I could get a good look at the Northern Demon Lord. To my utter surprise he was wearing a metal headpiece that reminded me of a bird and covered half of his face. It may have been made of stone and appeared just as heavy. Glittering gems and horns decorated it from front to back, but the headpiece's horns swept back elegantly. I don't know what made me think a demon mask could be "elegant" but there you go. Nonetheless there were no cut outs. I think… I think this demon was blind…

"My Lord, Toudai." Sesshomaru nodded as he said the name. I wondered… Maybe I was wrong because Toudai nodded back.

"Did I hear little Youkou correctly? You, Sesshomaru, mated?" there seemed to be a slight chuckle to his cultured, good-natured tone. As if the very thought of Sesshomaru mated – whether with she-demon or woman – was laughable, maybe improbable.

"It is indeed as she says." Sesshomaru's hand squeezed my shoulder right before he pushed me in front of the seated demon lord. "Toudai, this is my mate."

I froze in near horror as Toudai reached for me, but he did not leave his chair so I took another step toward him and another away from Sesshomaru. Flinching like I had with the curious Youkou wouldn't go well with this guy. My stomach dropped and I was unbelievably glad I had not eaten anything this morning. When his hand reached out to me I could see that his flesh was a very, very pale lavender. A purple demon? I had never seen or heard of such a thing. My curiosity saved me because before I could think about reaching back Toudai's fingertips were pressed against my forehead.

He had cold hands. At least they were soft, not scaly or like stone. Although his pearl-white fingernails were thicker and harder than human, they were shorter than Kinaga's so at least he wasn't going to slash and hack at me.

My first thought had been right, Toudai was blind. He stroked my face with his one hand and I did my very best not to move. His headpiece looked like it weighed a ton, sprinkled in gems like it was. His hair was fine, almost transparent as it cascaded down to his thighs. He looked almost feminine. Lithe frame, almost fragile looking, porcelain skin, a pale pink fabric draped across his body, and he wore no shoes. His jaw was delicate and his neck thin, but he had wrinkles. Although they truly made him look old Toudai didn't appear weak or frail, in fact the very evidence of his age made him seem _more_ powerful than any other demon here. Even Sesshomaru…

As he withdrew I gave out a subtle sigh. So far I hadn't pissed off a single demon – intentionally anyway. There was no helping the very fact I'm Sesshomaru's mate.

"I could see you with no lesser creature." Toudai said after a moment. I blinked…blinked again…wait… Did he just compliment me? I turned back to stare at Sesshomaru and my stunned expression made the edges of his mouth twitch.

"I am glad you can see what I see." Sesshomaru answered. I stepped away from the north lord and felt suddenly warmer when my demon put his hand back on my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed I could see my puffs of breath. The northern lord seemed to have power over the atmosphere around him… I was _so_ done with demon meet-and-greets.

"Well met, Lord of the North." I said with my eyes on the floor. This was exhausting.

He chuckled slightly as he said, "Well met, dear lady." That "dear" part made me squirm inside. I had not expected a kind word from a single demon. Youkou smiled at me and it reminded me of Rin…_ "You love Lord Sesshomaru too, right?!" _

Suddenly, a woman's voice called across the hall to Sesshomaru. "Is it true? You've rutted with the filth of the land?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. I spoke too soon. _Now_ I'm going to die.

"She's not much of a mate, Lord Sesshomaru. She's not much of anything!" Other demons joined this one in laughing and goading. Some glanced between the she-demon and my demon. "Where on earth did you manage to snag that little rat?"

I bit harder and let the warm blood wash my tongue.

"Tayorinai," Sesshomaru's voice was level. Clear in the hall as everyone focused on the confrontation. "You do yourself little honor in greeting me thusly."

The she-demon shrugged one bony shoulder. Magenta locks flowed down her back and trailed the edge of her black and violet kimono. It was sleeveless, but she wore matching gloves that hid from me if she had claws or not. Horns grew from her forehead and shot straight up three to four inches and those pointed ears were as large as my hand. Her skin was a cold gray, her lips a darker purple, her eyes were bright pink with a thick, black, slitted iris. She was easily as tall as Sesshomaru and as the other demons gave way to her I noticed her hair was multitude of purples, oranges, pinks, and indigos. It looked like a hassle, all that hair.

As she drew closer this she-demon gave the impression of being just like the deadly and beautiful demons of old lore. And she sounded like a bitch who knew it.

"You cannot have us believe _you_ mated a human!" She turned to the crowd, "He is the Western Lord! He deserves a she-demon who can stand on par with him!" She turned on me, "A mate that can bare him pure-breed demons." Her jab brought an uproar among the mob. "That little rat is not worth the dirt he walks on."

I was kinda getting tired of that line. Do demons not have a smidge of creativity outside of killing their prey?

"Tayorinai," there was warning in his tone, "If I say she is my mate what reason would you have not to believe me?"

She shrugged again, "Perhaps you don't know any better." The tension in the air crackled as the demons struggled to keep quiet, to watch, to not call for blood before this Tayorinai called for it. "Perhaps that little rat is a witch and has ensnared you."

At this point I made a sound somewhere between a scoff of disbelief and a snort of indignation. And every eye in the hall was on me in a flash.

"You have something to say, little ra-"

"You think I'd have ensnared _him_?" My voice rang loud and clear in the hall. "Of all the demons, you think I'd have picked a Lord. And because _that_ was such a good idea I also decided to tag along to a gathering such as this?" Then I laughed. I mean, it was like a bad b-movie on the Science Fiction Channel. "Like I would _choose _to be holed up with the most powerful demons on the earth is ever a _good_ idea."

Tayorinai narrowed her eyes at me. "I didn't say you were a clever witch."

I looked down at her from across the hall. "So you're saying that a mediocre witch ensnared a demon lord of the land? Do you have no faith in Sesshomaru at all?" The onlookers held their breath as they turned to wait for Tayorinai's counter.

She looked enraged. Her hair flowed and ebbed about her as if it had a mind of its own. Clenched hands shook as her body quivered in fury. I kept my hands light, my handles in easy reach. This was going to go south very soon. A glance at Sesshomaru told me this was not was he was expecting. No, he thought a demon lord would challenge _him_, for honor or for me. He didn't think the demon ladies would challenge me for _him_. Oops.

I mouthed "sorry" before I called out to Tayorinai again, "My name is Katsumi Seshomaru's mate! Do you not believe Sesshom-"

"DO NOT UTTER HIS NAME FILTHY HUMAN!" her shrill shattered glass. I flinched at the sound, and Sesshomaru's body shielded me from the worse of her power. All I should have is a slight ringing in my ears. Could have been worse, much worse.

Past his shoulder I could see Tayorinai glaring hot daggers at the two of us, at me in Sesshomaru's arms. The other demons began to mutter again and pointed at the two of us then at the crazed she-demon. Right now we looked like the sane, very much in love mates and she looked like some jilted woman.

"Katsumi, you said?" her voice quieted but her power surged and pulsed in the crowed hall. "I challenge you, for the sanctity of your bound!"

Yup, give it some time and I'll manage to piss off some powerful demon. I didn't even know this demon and I was going to have to kill her.

Now _that_ was normal.

**Alright! And this one didn't even take me two months to do! I finally have granted all you loyal and frustrated readers the next chapter! Yay! Now that school is over I've managed to get a great deal done with this story. **

**Now, as a treat I'm going to give y'all the meanings of all these demon names and what-not. If there is one I left out, feel free to ask about it and I'll (hopefully) remember to put it in the next chapter. **

**Katsumi**= Victorious Beauty

**Kyouryoku= **Powerful, Strong

**Chimitsu= **Delicate, Fine, Elaborate

**Kinu=**Silk

**Kyoukou=**Poor Crops, Famine, Murder, Brutality, Ferocity, Atrocity

**Kinaga=****Patient, Leisurely**

**Tayorinai=**Unreliable, Undependable, Flaky

**Youkou=****Sunshine, Sunlight**

**Toudai=****Lighthouse (Also: abbr for Tokyo University)**

**I hope all that came out neatly from my word document. Anyway, this is also the LONGEST chapter so far, hope that makes up for disappearing on y'all during the school year…**

**As always I LOVE hearing from you, so do write me a review of how I'm doing. Do you like my demons of the court? How's Katsumi? She's not grading on your nerves is she?**

**Thank you!**


	13. The Duel of Katsumi and Tayorinai

**Ok, and this chapter (the exciting duel of Katsumi) is dedicated to **lxl lxl, **please don't wither away into nothingness! I've been doing a decent job updating have I not? Maybe? Just a little bit better? ^_^**

**Also to **Ryanrene97 **for offering my 50****th**** review! **

**And a little shout out to **Jekka**!** **I am always so excited to read your reviews! They just seem to brighten my day! **

The Duel of Katsumi and Tayorinai

"_Katsumi, you said?" her voice quieted but her power surged and pulsed in the crowed hall. "I challenge you, for the sanctity of your bound!" _

_Yup, give it some time and I'll manage to piss off some powerful demon. I didn't even know this demon and I was going to have to kill her. _

_Now _that_ was normal._

I'm not sure what I thought would happen next, maybe she would surge forward and Sesshomaru would put her in her miserable place. Maybe I thought she'd just scoff it off and toss me some wordy injury then be on her way. I'm an Executioner, sure, but that involves hunting and scouting and prowling the night, and then there's the slaughtering. There is very little dueling involved. There are no formal rules, only kill or be killed. Usually you have the half-breed partner ready to have your back, or at the very least a pair of them for back up on _really_ bad runs.

And that did me just fine in my last seven years.

I probably should have asked Sesshomaru about duels, but he wouldn't have told me anything if I had. We both overlooked the jealously of females. He thought his honor was more important to the males, he had no idea that the hordes of she-demons would jump at the chance to decapitate his mate, whoever she may be.

I stood across the hall, Tayorinai in all her purpley-pink splendor on the other end. Sesshomaru stood next to the blind lord of the north Toudai looking like the marble statue of old Greece. He was probably angry beyond all belief, the rules of duels stated quiet clearly he was not allowed to intervene in any way. Toudai was acting as guard to make sure he would abide by said rules.

Kinaga, the Lady of the South, was acting as referee. She would start the duel and she would decide who was winner. I bit my cheek, I was alone in this.

And that shouldn't have worried me. No one was allowed to help Tayorinai. It was one-on-one, and this would be the closest thing to my profession since that giant snake monster! And I don't even want to remember how pathetically I reacted to _that_!I could do this. It would be like running, like breathing. This was just another part of my soul; this was exactly what I had been doing all my life. The only difference was that there were constricting rules for the demon. A duel was actually sounding easier than anything else.

"Lady Katsumi, you are being challenge for the sanctity of your mated bound to Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands. Do you accept this challenge?"

"I do." There were mutterings and laughing from the crowds of demons. I looked like a child compared to Tayorinai. I looked like the frail human against the powerful monster of shadows.

"Lady Tayorinai, Lady of the Eastern Lands, you are challenging Lady Katsumi for witchcraft and malicious intent, forging a false bound with Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, is that correct?"

I froze as she purred, "Yes."

_Lady of the Eastern Lands!?_ I was dueling a Lady of the Lands! I clenched my fists to keep myself from flinching at her look of pleasure. So she was just as strong as Sesshomaru? She was a Lady! Capital "L" kind of Lady! And we were going to duel…

Yeah, that sounds more like my life.

"Then I, Lady Kinaga of the South, will act as referee to this duel. When I give the signal you two will be locked in a battle to the death. The first to walk away still breathing is the winner."

I turned to stare at Sesshomaru… _a battle to the death_! So if I die… I glared at this Tayorinai. Ok, it isn't so bad. A duel is just a lone confrontation…

_You were out patrolling. The night is warm and humid. There have been seven accounts of a demon slaughtering in these parts. You have been sent to find this demon. _

_Screams in the distance, close, echoing before they are forever silenced. You run! As you climb a hill to the empty clearing, you see it. The devastating monster of lore, she is taller than any human, her robes billow in the soft breeze. And as you come upon her you watch her kill a family… a mother and father and two little girls. _

_The creature is bathed in their blood and laughing in the thrill of her kill, delirious in the demented pleasure of her ilk. She licks her fingers to taste the dead and throws her head back to laugh at the crescent moon, the sound of bone-chilling horror. Long hair flowing in the chilled wind and her sharp horns makes a terrifying silhouette. _This_ is what nightmares are afraid to cross in the middle of the black. _

_One of the little girls moans, she curls into a ball to keep her blood in her body – one small arm against the great slice along her belly. The little movement catches the she-demon's attention. Smiling in glee, all of her teeth sharp, pointed, and black, it shivers in the delight of having savored one. Her slitted eyes widen slightly as she purrs, "Little one, are you that foolish? Your death had been preordained." _

_And as she moves closer to the broken little child, you step out of the shadows._

I pull the katana off my back, the sound of silver rings eerily as all the demons fall silent to its song. It is easy to slip into an offensive posture, like welcoming an old friend. Deep down, in the pit of my soul I am glad to be here. This is where I belong, fighting the spawn of evil, protecting the world of the demon ilk, living in the night, breathing in destruction… It is all too familiar to me.

Tayorinai's lovely features shrivel in detest at my weapon. Instinctually she knows it is a bane to her. Kinaga is lost for a few moments as the blade speak to her too. Then she shivers, brings herself back to the crowd, "And to all of you who are witness, I call this duel begun!"

The she-demon gives me no time to prepare myself. She rushes and in moments she is there next to me smirking at me as I realize I'm bleeding. My side has been sliced like an apple. A gash from my ribs to my hip soaks the kimono in a matter of moments and I grit my teeth to the pain. She must have expected some kind of reaction because she didn't move away from me. My blade connects and she cries out in surprise and mild pain as she jumps far from me.

Pink eyes glare hotly as the cut on her face, from temple down her neck to her shoulder, burns and hisses. So silver to this she-demon is like acid. Well, what a relief. I just seems to slice Sesshomaru, and he manages to ignore it.

"You human whore!" she bellows, her power surging with her voice. I hold my blade up and wait for her to come to me. And that just seems to piss her off. Faster than before she comes, but I'm ready this time. I dance away from her and hit her again, slicing a chunk of her back. The flesh there smokes and an unpleasant smell reeks from the wound.

But before I can retreat I feel the sharp bite of pain in my arm and shoulder. When I turn to pull the blade out I realize it's not a blade at all. This she-demon uses her bloody hair as a weapon. I grabbed the strands and pulled with all my might. Pain bloomed in my palm as blood gushed from my fist and spilled down the multi-toned hair of my enemy. She threw back her head and laughed.

_She licks her fingers to taste the dead and throws her head back to laugh at the crescent moon._

Fury raged through me. My blood froze as my vision narrowed on her hideously laughing face. She was a bane to the world, a poison. I slipped out a knife into my bloody hand and I hacked at the hair. The dead strands fell to the floor, and we both watched as the glossy color faded and nothing was left but a small pile of dust. Then we turned simultaneously to stare at each other. In a second we were again on opposite side of the hall, eyes hard.

With this blessing of a break I cut the extra fabric on my arms, it was heavy. Then I loosened the rest of it, the skirt flowing around my ankles, silky fabric slipped over my shoulders. Much better.

"Filth! Monstrous filth! What have you done?!" Tayorinai screamed as she clutched at her ragged strands, one side of her flowing hair was two feet shorter than the rest. "Human whore! Pathetic little rat!" I slipped my dagger away and held my katana at the ready. But my hand hurt and my shoulder was stinging madly and the rest of my arm was sticky in hot blood. I couldn't let her get another hit like that. My side reminded me that there was more than hair to worry about. She was crazy fast. I needed to say close to her, but I couldn't let her hair touch me.

With practice honed from childhood, I pushed the pain aside.

Her rage bubbled over and she screamed, "SAY SOMETHING YOU STUPID HUMAN!" Wind rushed and threatened to brush me aside like I weighed as much as a scrap of paper. I held my hands up and tried to fight it. Something warm and wet trickled down the sides of my head, but I focused on the maniacal laughter that seemed to come from all around me. The wind changed direction and with near panic I managed to plant my feet to keep my ground.

I hated that laughter.

_She licks her fingers to taste the dead and throws her head back to laugh at the crescent moon._

"Coward!" I cried into the chaos and in the next instant I was hit hard in the stomach. I flew about ten feet before I grabbed purchase again.

"Is the little rat having trouble? Can it not see it is about to die?"

"_Little one, are you that foolish? Your death had been preordained."_

The wind howled but there was a rift to it, a hiccup in this magic. I closed my eyes and waited. The she-demon came, the wind shifted for her, and I ducked low to swipe at her exposed stomach as she had mine. When the wind died and I opened my eyes, the demon looked every bit as crazed as the moon-mad, wolfen demons of my time. Her lopsided hair was wild from the wind, her pale flesh glistened with sweat, her gloves were soaked in blood (more than likely mine) and her pink eyes glowed hotly at me. She wasn't huffing and puffing in exertion, but in her insanity she looked far more frazzle than me.

Nevertheless, I was going to have to stop this soon. It wouldn't be much longer before she decided to stop toying with me and just chop my head off.

"You were saying?" There was my big mouth, where have you been hiding?

Tayorinai snarled. But she didn't charge again. She swished her wild hair over her shoulder and glared at me, controlling the rage that boiled over. "You are not as pathetic as you look, little rat."

I stared at her coldly, that indifference I cultivated over my life settling over my body like a second skin. "I figured you wouldn't be as pathetic as I thought either…" her glare faltered for a second before she froze in place with hatred. "But you surprised me, **you are quite pathetic**."

I only had enough time to hold my sword ready before she attacked, she tried to trick me, use her gloved hand as a distraction as her hair came around to stab me in the back. But this isn't my first rodeo. I twisted and managed to deflect the mass of hair, but it only swerved and came after me again. It was hard to twist my body and keep up with her stupid hair. But my techniques were winning, I no longer felt tired or pain. If they could see me, I think Mother and Father would be rather proud.

I _wouldn't_ let this she-demon kill me. It was just one measly duel! I've been hunted by worse things. Who cared if she was the Lord of anything? I've hunted worse things!

Turn and duck and parry and strike and slice and I was a flurry of movement where all I could see was purple and pink and orange and red. Then colors faded to gray dust as the silver hit the she-demon's hair. Growing sick of her, I kicked the she-demon with my lovely boots and she stumbled.

Maybe it was because I was finally looking down at her but suddenly I took a pause. She fell. With one kick I had a Lady on the floor. I only meant to push her back and hadn't expected to gain that much space anyway. But she was down.

I _really_ like these shoes.

"**You really think you're worth **_**him**_?" Quiet, so only she could hear, I pressed my Influence against her defenses. Tayorinai wasn't hard to figure out. She hated me. Her jealousy was palpable. That hatred she used against me was now being used against her.

Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Tayorinai shoved both hands onto the floor to push herself up; she made deep indents as she did so. The tiled floor cracked underneath her. She cursed as something terrible popped loudly in the hall. Then she looked up at me and I got a good look at the hideous bruise on her shoulder. Did I really do that? I didn't even know demons could bruise, or have their shoulders pop out of socket. When I locked eyes with her I knew the time for games was over. She was done playing with her food. She was going to kill me now.

In an instant I threw a knife at her and it sunk into her thigh.

Then I ran like hell.

Her voice boomed and echoed but I only ran faster. I could run, and I could run fast.

As I sped through the throng of demons I remembered when I first met Sesshomaru. How terrifying it was to be held with one hand as he pinned me to a tree, how my Influence had done nothing but irritated him like a buzzing fly, and how I had run from him. Then before that, when the horde of demons watched with sharp, black eyes as the jewel flew through the air and into my hands. I turned and ran just as I had done now. And when Sesshomaru had to guide me back. The mountain we passed to get back to Kagome's well, how I hadn't even _noticed_ the damn mountain!

And so I ran. I jumped over two demons that tried to stop me, flying over their gapping faces, and flipped to land gracefully in a crouch. I didn't turn around when Tayorinai cut down the two nameless demons. I didn't stop when the wind brushed my hair. I rushed and raced and darted and flat-out fled from her.

**TheDuelofKatsumiandTayorinai **

If Toudai had not restrained my arm with one of his I would have slaughtered that foul creature where she stood. If I had not been bred to follow every demon court's law I would have done so the second she uttered a word against my Katsumi. It was the closest moment to agony I could possibly come to as I watch the woman turn and run and to sit by idle as she did so.

The blood on her side, the trickles of it down her ears, the bright stain along her arm, it all tore at something inside me… Like the day I found Rin alone in the woods…

It was a terrible surprise she had not died sooner. Tayorinai was one for fun and games; she would have greatly savored destroying my human. But Katsumi surprised her. She surprised them all. Too quick for a human she avoided Death a dozen times. Sharp and smart, she felt the rift in Tayorinai's magic – the void the demon makes so she may pass through her power. And the clever way she turned Tayorinai's jealously in on the snubbed demon. Such as with Kinu, Katsumi's Influence was merely another knife to wield like it was an extension of her very being. With grace my human was making a fool of the Eastern Lady.

Such as in her time, she was too quick, too sly, ignoring fatal injuries for the final kill.

She fought like a young demon fledgling.

Tayorinai's laugh was like nails on glass. She cackled and crowed and shivered in demented pleasure like she were a mere fledgling. She pounced on the two demons and sliced them to ribbons to catch the fleeing Katsumi. Her wicked hair flew this way and that as the demons of court moved out of the way of her crazed behavior. The wound in her thigh impaired her from actually reaching my human and she howled in her frustrations.

I should have foreseen Tayorinai. Of any demon of court, she would be the one to be the hardest to deceive – her, and Toudai. The aged demon of the north sat stiffly and silently to the wreckage the Lady of the East caused. Youkou, the little lake demon of his realm shivered and pushed her face into her lord's free hand. He stroked her face and gave a small smile her way. Then he turned back sharply as Katsumi flung another throwing knife. Her aim was true but this time Tayorinai was ready and deflected the blade with a swish of her ragged hair. Another chunk faded as it hit the floor and caused the demon to lament horrifically. Apparently she had not come to the conclusion that it was the blade and not Katsumi that was destroying her.

"You should have foreseen Tayorinai," Toudai commented as if we were watching any other duel. Only this wasn't simply _any _duel. I clenched my fist but Toudai did not tighten his hold. He ruled the north back when my father ruled the west. Together they had shared many wars, some on the same side, some opposing each other. It was rumored that it had been my father that took Toudai's eyesight away.

"I know." I said – if it had been anyone else stating my thoughts I would have ignored them. Toudai, however, called for respect. "I overlooked her jealousy…" I pressed my lips together. It had been decades ago. We had shared one meaningless, lonely night in our younger years and she had consumed herself in her fabricated obsession. It wouldn't have mattered if Katsumi had been a prestigious pure-bred, Tayorinai would have done all she could to destroy anyone I took to be my mate.

Perhaps she had hoped that I would have chosen someone as unhinged and jealous as she.

Katsumi slid in her attempt to trip the demon up and landed hard on her injured side. The bleeding began anew but she merely gathered her body and wildly tossed her katana behind her. All grew still as Tayorinai stared at the blade in her chest, her hand had slowed its momentum but the tip still protruded from her back. Black blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she looked down the blade to the hilt to the human who caused her injury.

"**He did not choose you**." Katsumi taunted, stupid girl. "What will it take to get you to forfeit?"

"Monster!" She screeched as the demon pulled at the blade, where it touched was hissing and skin was popping as the strange metal ate away her flesh. Her hand shriveled and her body caved as more black liquid gushed freely moments before it too became dust. When it was out completely she tossed the sword behind her body. It flew pass me and I had but a moment to process _who _was behind me, and if he had a chance to stop the sword.

Toudai stood off to the side of the throne his covered face pointed at the weapon. Slowly, deadly quiet, the Lord turned to Tayorinai's direction. I hadn't even felt him let go of my arm. "Permission to offer the human a hint." The room stilled, the only sound was Katsumi's precious blood dripping on the cold floor. She shifted nervously, scuttling back as Tayorinai's attention was occupied.

Kinaga glanced between my Katsumi, to me, then to the North Lord. She pulled her shoulders back as she called across the hall, "Do to an act of violence to a Lord not involved in the duel, Toudai of the North is allow to give Katsumi, Mate of the West Lord, one hint!"

Tayorinai froze, her pink eyes trailed after the North Lord as he stepped without aid to my Katsumi. My human, so small in the throng of the demons, had one hand wrapped around her middle but the blood overflowed over her arm. She did not even wince as she stood straight before the Lord. Her face was a cold mask, her eyes hard and on fire, her free hand twitched to have a handle in it.

She looked beautiful.

**TheDuelofKatsumiandTayorinai **

The North Lord's lips were a cold relief as he leaned down and whispered into my ear. It was near impossible to process his words, but I got it. Oh, did I get it. He put a hand on my shoulder and I turned to guide him back to the throne, back to get my sword.

As we took two steps that way the she-demon called out, "Interference! He is helping her get that damned sword back!"

But Kinaga sneered at her, "She is helping an aged lord back to his seat, I see no-"

Tayorinai did not wait to hear her, she charged at us and without thought I shoved the old demon behind me and whipped out my dueling knives. Crossed at an X I managed to stop the mass of hair but the loose strands stabbed at me in a million different places. I couldn't stop myself this time. The pain caught fire and I screamed as she ripped her hair out at a terrible angel. Blearily I watched the blood gush and rain to the floor in a puddle. I had always had God-awful nightmares of dying in my own puddle of blood!

I glared up at the she-demon. Oh, now _I'm_ done playing.

I rushed her. Usually I don't do it considering there is little control to it, but she pissed me off now. Her sick smirk slowly melted to the closest thing to fear something like she can feel as I jumped and landed on her back. As we both fell to the floor I stabbed one knife deep into her shoulder blade, and as she cried out to call her wind I grabbed a bloody fistful of her hideous hair. When she realized what was about to happen next her sick eyes widened a fraction and I cut all her hair off.

Stunned she landed face first into the floor and I rolled off her back to stand out of arm distance. In a moment she sat up and stared in awe at the piles of dust around her. Then she sobbed. Her wet cries broke and echoed eerily in the silence of the room. She said incomplete words, her breathing hitching as she reached out to what was left of her power. I took two steps in quick, jerky, painful movements then I swung.

I kept my eyes closed as the loud _thunk_ echoed hollowly. The sour tang of a kill burned with blood, I didn't even bother to watch her body disintegrate, only grabbed her dead-weighed head by what shabby hair was left and turned ever so slightly in Sesshomaru's direction. It isn't hard to figure out why Tayorinai was so angry. One look in his melted gold eyes – it went way pass some kind of one-sided obsession, and I could see there's a _history_ there. The head flies as I toss my prize at my mate, and it bursts into dust at his feet. Regrettably I remember my blades discarded around the hall so I turned to pick them up. Now that the she-demon was dead, I hurt so much…

Then, as if God heard my pleas I was suddenly no longer on weary legs, I was being carried by a strong, warm body. "Sesshomaru…" I sighed in utter relief as I turned into his large torso, his armor not even making a dent in the burning pain I was feeling. My knife's pair was also miraculously in my hand again. It would take forever to gather all my weapons. I lost my katana and two throwing knives and all three daggers… I ticked them off as a cacophony rose above the ringing in my ears.

"She murdered a Lord of the Land!" "There must be blood for blood!" "Tayorinai had no heir!" What will become of the East?" "There must be a Lord of the East!" "Blood for blood!"

Then the noise was beyond me. They roared and snarled and hissed and made many manner of sounds that were demon and not human. It made me shrivel farther into Sesshomaru's embrace and I'm pretty sure I made a very weak sound. But the world was bleeding away, lights dimmed, sound retreated, all that was left was Sesshomaru's deep voice in my ear. "Sleep my Katsumi and rest in my arms."

**TheDuelofKatsumiandTayorinai **

She looked small and frail in sleep, deceiving little creature she was, already proving to be anything but. Her body curled into itself as my furred garment encased her in soft warmth, her arm wrapped securely around her middle, her mouth slightly gapped as her eyebrows tilt inward in her murky dreams. Her free hand lay limply away from her, the bandages wrapped from fingertips to forearm look strange against her faintly olive skin. More bandages wrapped around her torso, her shoulders, and around her thigh. Small patches covered minor wounds, some unnecessary, but I would take no chances with this one.

Her nose and fingers twitched to warn me she was waking. The healer – a human called from the nearby village – turned to watch her for a moment before she glanced at me worriedly. "You may leave." I said and the woman briskly disappeared.

It was a small relief to be alone with her again. Her bright eyes stared at the wall just past me as she realized she was in a foreign bed, but the pieces came together and so did the pain. In a flash she stretched her body out, fleeing from the fetal position she always slept in and glared at the ceiling, waiting to grow use to her discomfort.

I was willing to be ignored for only so long. Too quick for her mind to follow I untied my sash and unfastened the armor, discarding both to the floor as I loomed over her, careful to not touch her just yet. One minute passed before she finally looked my way. Clearing her throat she said, "Hi…" and began a fit of coughing right after. Without looking away from her I took the goblet of water the healer gave me and pulled her up simultaneously.

She tried to inhale the water before I stilled her. "Slowly," I commanded and she obeyed before she pushed the metal away. I set it down as my eyes silently demanded for her to look at me. Why did she hide?

"What happened?" She sounded much better as she pressed her back to the wall, and I noticed the way she also pulled out of my touch.

"You won the duel."

Frowning she asked, "What happened after?"

"The court is in a frenzy." I paused. How much could she handle right now? How much was safe to tell her?

"**What Happened**?" It was like a soothing pat on my back, a small caress against my forehead.

"The demons of the Eastern Realm are trying to have you tried for murdering their Lord. Tayorinai had no heir so for the moment the eastern lands are rule by Chaos. They demand blood for blood." I slammed my mouth closed as I glared at her. She just Influenced me… and I had allowed it…

"Don't shelter me, Sesshomaru. Keeping things to yourself is hazardous to my health here." She looked up at me and the only thing that kept me from shaking her were the bandages that glared at me. "You should have warned me of the women you had been with." Her eyes dropped to her lap once again as she sighed heavily.

With great care I pressed my hand to her cheek. She leaned into lazily, as if she were not thinking I could easily break her in such a submissive position. "I should have mentioned Tayorinai, but I had not thought she was so blinded by her obsession of me." She chuckled hollowly at that. "As for the demons of the east, I _will_ deal with them."

Her head rolled back to look at me, as if merely raising it was too much effort. "And that part about keeping stuff from me?"

My eyes narrowed on her, "I will tell you anything you ask."

Shaking her head she laughed wearily, "So it'll be my fault if I don't know something, clever demon you are." Her head drooped and her eyes blinked several times.

"I will do my best to tell you everything that is of importance to your health." Gently I helped lower her to lay flat. "I collected all of her weapons."

Her eyes flashed open to look at me; there was a tiny glow to her little smile at my last words. She then held out her hand to me and I took it without hesitation. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

I answered her question by kissing her forehead, "I will not leave your side."

**Alrighty then! Another wonderfully long and eventful chapter! YAY! How was it? A decent fight scene I take it? I thought it was pretty good, but I'm pretty biased or so I'm told. **

**Some really interesting stuff is coming up, along with some delightful characters! Hope y'all are still devoted and interested! **

**Had a save Independence Day? I bet you did, the burnt eyebrows say it all… **


	14. Of Nightmares and Courtly Demons

**Chapter 14 is dedicated to **D** a guest. I'm so glad you loved my fight scene. I went over it like ten times before I felt like it was fluid and clear.**

Of Nightmares and Courtly Demons

Nightmares suck. The really nasty ones, I mean, the kind that you _know_ aren't real. You _know _with every fiber of your being that it's an illusion, a hallucination, anything but the real thing. I have lots of nightmares. Most of them are impossible. Not the I'm-flying-out-my-bedroom-window-and-now-I'm-falling-to-my-death impossible. Nah, they're more like the you're-suppose-to-be-dead!-I-killed-you-with-my-own-hands-and-burned-your-corpse kind of stuff.

In the deepest recesses of my mind I have the kind of nightmares that stick with me even during the day. It's the shudder when you're warm, the chill in the sunlight, the shadow in the corner of your eye you've just missed, and the itch along your skin when you're not in any danger, the kind of horrors that are too scary for movie theaters.

"_Run for your life little girl!" It's a cold sound, dripping in slime and poison and fear, and underneath all that it's saturated in pleasure at the chase. I can't seem to move fast enough. **Flee, my child, flee!** _

_Something black and quick scuttles across the empty street and I stumble, scraping my knees and hands. Turning back I realize why I'm so slow. I'm small, too damn small – a child, with a child's legs, thin and frail. _

_And I'm bleeding, a lot, from a deep cut in my stomach. It's like black ink in the night as it splatters around me like a kindergartener's piece of art. How I could possibly be _moving _with an injury is beyond me. But that's not what I'm really thinking about; the worst of it is I'm not alone…_

"_Where will you go precious, little thing?" _

_Jumping at the sound – too close now, impossibly close – I collect my small and broken body and run again.** Flee, my child, flee!** All I hear is my harsh breathing, my feet hitting pavement loudly, and that disgusting voice as it slithers out of the shadows made by the crooked crescent moon._

"_You cannot escape me." _

_A fire ignites in my stomach pushing the pain somewhere far away and I practically throw myself into a dead-man's sprint. __**Flee, my child, flee! **__The world bleeds by in grays and blacks and harsh whites. Death reeks of rotted fruit, the promise of pain and torment and unimaginable terror's my childish mind cannot even fathom. But I'm _me_ trapped in this young body, and I _know_ what is going to happen next. _

_That is the horror of nightmares._

_A long hand detaches itself from a long shadow in front of me. It pulls a body up with it as if the shadow were a pit and this creature had dwelt inside of it all along. Momentum and fear make me fall at the monster's feet. And I don't want to look up. I don't want to see what I've been running from. I don't want to know what happens next!_

_But you don't get to decide how a dream goes. It takes you foreword like river rapids and there's no stopping what come next, because this is a memory as much as a nightmare. I look up into the monster's dark eyes, hollow recesses that appear more like empty holes in its head, like bottomless pools of blackness, and as I freeze in horror its hand reaches down to seize me…_

_**Flee, my child, flee!**_

Something bright and sharp stabbed at my eyes. The sun is a monster in itself. At least that is my first thought when I come to consciousness again, the nightmare fading back into the darkest recesses of my mind, where it should stay for now. The pain was slowly receding and that was a small blessing to how bad it had been when I first woke up. It would have been an embarrassment of epic proportions to have cried out in the den of demon lords, not to mention the utter horrification of screaming with Sesshomaru right next to me. There was no way I could show him how much it hurt, how human I was in that moment.

Of course, there was no hiding my pain to someone like Sesshomaru. He probably knew how bad it was, he was probably the one who dressed the wounds. I blushed at that thought and threw an arm over my eyes. Oh! Just kill me now! Unconsciously my other arm slithered around my stomach.

Did he see it? Past all the bleeding and oozing, did he see what I was trying to hide from him? I sighed, if he had seen it then eventually he would want to talk about it. Like back in Kagome's bedroom when I had been changing. But it had been easier to ignore it then. We hardly knew each other. Now… _Now_ we were trapped at demon-paluza and I was a bloody wreck for defending _our _lie.

_And as I freeze in horror its hand reaches down to seize me…_

"How do you feel?" I stiffened and it brought to life all the bruising I had overlooked. Oh man! The next couple of days were going to suck! And in a sick way I'm grateful as the pain shoves the nightmare aside as if it were some tittering, child's toy tower. I peek out from my arm when I thought I could handle looking at him. Just as devastating as usual, just as heart wrenching, and just so freakin' safe….

Dammit, there's that word again. Shouldn't the aches and pains be proof that he is most definitely _not safe_?

_Maybe it's just the situation that isn't safe? Maybe it has nothing to do with Sesshomaru?_

_And maybe you didn't just try to rationalize your feelings for a demon._

"Better." I hope my voice isn't as harsh as I think it is.

"Good." His gold eyes were mysteriously darker than usual.

"What time is it? When's the meeting?"

His smile silenced me, I was halfway up and I froze at the sight of it. Just barely _not_ a smirk, there was a hidden mirth to him, an amusement he was _enjoying_ and it didn't feel like it was at my expense. More like it was a secret joke he was inviting me to join him in. Then he surged forward, the mattress sinking with us. I bit my lip and did my very best not to fall back completely. But it was no use, he just kept coming and I was forced onto my back without him even touching me.

"It is hours before the meeting. We are in the darkest hours of the night." It had been mid-afternoon when we got here, maybe a couple of hours of meet-and-greet, maybe an hour tops of my duel, so we were looking at a roughly, eight hour nap. No wonder I was jittery. And the monster I had labeled the sun was actually a handful of lanterns burning brightly in our room. The guardsmen to keep the nightmares out.

_Well somebody wasn't doing their job!_

"We have plenty of time to amuse ourselves until we are needed."

I stared at him, blinking in the soft light of the lanterns as his words first moved over me, did a U-turn, pulled up beside me, and blared a siren in my ear before they registered. _Amuse ourselves_? Amuse ourselves, how? What exactly was he playing at?

"You have no idea the power you wield, do you?" I stilled as he leaned down. I'm not sure why or how but I stretched my neck as he pressed his lips to the chilled skin there. He trailed softly up to my ear and I felt like jelly as he did it. So soft, so gentle, after all the pain it was a wonderful relief.

"What kind of power do I have?" I don't know why I jumped at the chance to play with him. It wasn't like I ever won or anything. But being alone with Sesshomaru, it was like coming home to a warm bowl of soup after a hard day. There was something comforting in being with Sesshomaru, in watching him and touching him while no one saw.

_Comforting is the same as safe…_

His arm pressed into the linen beside me fisted the fabric as he arched to throw the full extent of his glowing eyes at me. They literally glowed, the lanterns' light pathetic comparison to his eyes. I felt a strange shiver run rampant up and down my spine, and the need to arch beneath him, to touch every inch of him. To keep some kind of control I bit my lip, and satisfied myself by stroking his long hair.

I had an instant moment of dread as I thought of grabbing Tayorinai's hair and slicing my palm up. But the soft strands of Sesshomaru's silver hair brought peace to my racing heart. For a moment I lost myself in the sensation of the silky strands flowing over my fingers and brushing my arm. It just poured over his shoulders, without a life of its own, without any kind of horrible power. A girly thought brought on a sudden grin as I wondered if he'd let me braid it.

"Katsumi…" I turned to look at him and wondered how long he called to me. Although Sesshomaru looked like a statue most of the time, I think for a second he appeared _at peace_ as I stroked him. I considered pulling away but the thought of not touching him seemed like a worse option. So I pushed myself up with my free hand to kiss his cheek, over the red marks with the sliver of a cut intersecting them. Our little game in my aunt's backyard wrapped around my mind as I pushed his hair away from his neck.

"Katsumi," Sesshomaru pulled back to catch my eyes, "do you know what you did, at the end of the duel?"

It almost hurt my head to think about, but I answered, "You mean when I toss the head at your feet."

"Do you understand what-"

"I may not be an Ace at demon etiquette, but I know what I was doing." I gave him my prize because he was my mate. To even the most thick-headed of demons _that_ act alone should have proved our bond was real. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what it meant. I know it was an act of submission more than anything else. Like when my cat brought me her fresh kills. There were never many sparrows around my house since I got him.

Sesshomaru nodded once as he continued to watch me, his fist still tangled in the sheets, my hand still resting on his neck. I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next, but Sesshomaru came to my aid. He rolled off me and to the side, gathered me up against his chest and breathed softly, "You need to rest, Katsumi."

His strong body was so gentle with me, barely touching me, but not giving me up at the same time. No one ever treated me so carefully before. Tough Love was a big rule in my house, and in my training I thrived on my instructors to give me little room for error. In a life of killed or be killed there was no room for gentle caresses, for soft embraces. In Sesshomaru's arm I realized coldly that perhaps my parents were wrong in this area.

People _needed_ something soft.

As Sesshomaru subtly trailed his fingers up and down my back I wondered if maybe demons needed something soft _more._

**OfNightmaresandCourtlyDemons **

When I woke up again the little lake she-demon was staring at me with her wide, inked out, greenish eyes. I gulped loudly as I controlled my body, and cursed inwardly as I realized there wasn't a knife under my pillow as I had expected there to be. Of course, I chastised myself, it may not be a good idea to murder the little she-demon of the demon lord who gave me Tayorinai's weakness. She blinked once – both lids – then smiled brightly. Huh, no fangs on this little one.

"Lady Katsumi! You're awake! Finally!" She jumped up from her position of sitting next to my bed and began to spin merrily around the room.

Sitting up didn't hurt, but there was some soreness along my side and shoulder… and my hip and ankle… and some aching in my back… Oh, how I do _not_ want to think about it! It was bad enough I resembled a mummy wrapped up in the thick cloth bandages as I was. I pulled myself to the side of the… Hey now…

"Um, what is this?" I gesture to the bed… I mean, I'm in a real bed. This isn't some mat or futon. It looked like a regular king-sized bed. No post or a head board, but it didn't matter, and the mattress was downy and filled with something super soft.

Youkou tilt her head, her long hair spilling over her shoulder and gracing the floor. "I do not know, Lady Katsumi. I found you in it when the Western Lord asked me to attend to you."

I frowned… he said… What had he said two nights ago?

"_I have made preparations for us to travel to the Demon City tomorrow."_

Was he doing something like this? I slid the rest of the way off, bare feet hitting ice cold stone, and stumbled away from this… gesture. I stared at the lake demon; she appeared to be indecisive about what to do with me, fidgeting and wringing her small hands. Come to may aid? Leave me be to do it myself? Was she _scared_ of me?

"Uh…"

"Oh!" She exclaimed as she turned to a trunk behind her. "I'm supposed to get you ready Lady Katsumi!"

I chuckled nervously, "Just Katsumi-"

"OH NO!" She shook her head vigorously as she turned back to me, her hair flaring around her. I watched it sharply until it settled again at her ankles. "I cannot show such little respect to the Western Lord's mate!" Her pale face grew paler. Her solid green-blue eyes widened.

"Ok, Ok!" I held my hands up placidly, "then just Miss is fine."

"Miss? Um…" she looked a bit worried at the word…

_DUH! You're "mated" now! You can't go walking around having demons labeling you a "Ms." if you're supposed to be a "Mrs." _

I sighed, "Mistress?" She beamed at that. I guess it wouldn't be too uncommon in this time to have some little demon call me mistress. Though it felt super creepy, it wouldn't be half as bad as _"Lady Katsumi."_

"Mistress, I'm here to attend to you."

"Attended, how?"

She giggled, and it sounded so much like Rin's, "I'm going help you dress!"

I flinched at the thought, "I'm sure I can manage, Youkou."

Only the she-demon would have none of it, "The Western Lord _told_ me to attend to you!"

"You don't have to listen to the Western Lord; you live in the north realm."

"Lord Toudai approved of the Western Lord's request to have me personally attend to you." She looked frazzled, worried, probably thought if she argued with me I'd cut her down.

Now why would he pick this child to help me out?

_Uh, because you don't know anyone else? _

Oh yeah… I guess I didn't get a chance to meet anyone, between Tayorinai attacking me and my power nap there was little time for much else.

"What are you supposed to do?" She quirked an eyebrow at me, "I-I never had a demon attend on me for a demon's gathering." Nice save… I'm a Lord's mate, not some common woman can do that. Tayorinai was right about not just _anyone_ could mate Sesshomaru. Just because I executed a Lord in a fair duel doesn't mean everyone will buy our story. It might make them less likely to challenge me again, but I'd still have to deal with their gossip. He probably already lost some points for picking a human, if he picked a _plain_ human I'd probably have to duel an entire armada

Gah! I should be getting paid for this!

Youkou smiled softly, in I'm sure was a sympathetic manner, "I will help you change your bandages, help you dress, do your hair, and in all ways make you presentable before the demons of the court."

_Oh…Joy…_

As the bruises flared, I supposed it couldn't _hurt_ to have a little help… Maybe… Was that why he brought her here? It wasn't like I could reach _all _my wounds.

But Youkou was already rummaging through the trunk again pulling out silks and colors left and right before she settled on one that made her eyes widen in awe. She turned and the _kimono_ drifted about her as she giggled, "This one will do just fine!"

I wanted to groan and stumble back into my soft comfortable bed.

**OfNightmaresandCourtlyDemons **

Walking in a who-knows-how-many-layers _kimono_ is a torture in itself. There would be _no_ dueling in an outfit like this! I mean, walking was troublesome at best, and you don't even want to know how I managed to strap as much silver on me as possible – much to Youkou's shocked surprise as well. Nothing was going to sneak up on me today. And if anything chose to, well, it was going to be a messy mistake for them. And it would probably not end well for this _kimono_ either.

As I grumbled under my breath, Youkou hovering behind me the whole way and in as invisible a manner as possible guiding me to Sesshomaru in that same indecisiveness of whether to help or to watch, I scrutinized a demon approaching us in the hallway. There were many – I suppose they were the displays of power Sesshomaru mentioned before – lesser demons about, all giving Youkou and me a wide berth as we passed. Still, I probably wouldn't feel safe until Sesshomaru was at least within my sights. The itching at my wrist kept egging me on while my wounds begged for me to rest.

I sized the demon up as he made a bee-line to me. Long, caramel-light brown hair, done half-up in a bun with a wicked gold decoration, the rest cascaded over his shoulders to his hips. He had bright red, dangled earrings that contrasted sharply with his glowing blue eyes. I mean, they were like the Caribbean kind of blue, and they shined like Sesshomaru's with power in their depths. Maybe it was the poor light, but his skin look almost pale blue, but not in a sickly kind of way. More like it was a type of stone, chiseled to perfection – maybe an ice sculpture was more accurate. His robes were an array of pale and bright blues and white. He looked leisurely expensive, as if he could simple buy another robe instead of ironing this one.

The grin he gave me probably meant to be disarming but I felt vaguely like the cat found the… Um, no more rat references… But you know what I mean. Those bright eyes lit up the hallway and as he grew closer Youkou let out an excited "Oh!" before she tried to hide behind me.

"That's Okunote… He is the general of the East…" she rushed her words as if she couldn't get them out fast enough. When I turned to ask her about that, I noticed the blush on her pale cheeks. I turned back to this Okunote and thought: _yeah he's pretty cute…_ and pretty _young_ to be a general…

Maybe I was desensitized by all the beautiful demons in the place – or maybe just _my _demon – but this Okunote was soooo not my type. He had a boyish charm to him as he stood in front of me. Full of a cockiness that was all too familiar – I bet he and Sesshomaru played together as children. And Sesshomaru turned into some scary Lord while this guy stuck with his looks to get him through life.

"Greetings, Mate of Lord Sesshomaru." He bowed low, not stiff like Youkou had but low enough to gently take my wrist and press his lips to my knuckles. Now I'm not sure if he was testing me or something but I reminded myself I was not here to cause problems, and murdering a Lord of the Land _and_ her general sounded like a poor choice in tactics on my part just because I'm a bit jumpy in the morning. "I am Okunote."

As he lean back he smiled and winked at me like an ego-centric teenager. It kinda made me smirk before I could stop myself. Not so much in flattery, but in how… _easy_ this guy acted. It was a relief I think, to have someone treat me not so – um, what's the word – _ugly_. Okunote huffed a small laugh as he stood to his full height, somewhere close to Sesshomaru's height and too-far-the-heck high for me to reach.

"Well met, Okunote. Youkou tells me you are the eastern lands' general." I gestured to the quivering creature at my back. The lake demon froze then looked up suddenly at the male before us.

"H-h-hello, General…" Blushing madly she held her hand up by her mouth in a nervous gesture. I watched Okunote as he stood straighter before he gave a small greeting to Youkou, not quite looking at her but not exactly looking away either. Huh…

"I hope you aren't planning some terrible kind of revenge on me." I said to break the awkward silence that settled over us with Okunote's greeting. He stared at me with wide eyes, stunned speechless probably for the first time in his life. I grinned impishly.

Suddenly he burst with laughter, a good to honest laughed, and it was the first time I heard a demon laugh that wasn't full of malice and evil promises – nothing like Sesshomaru's dark chuckling that sent shivers to wreak havoc on my spine – the guy snorted in actual amusement. Whether at my expense or not remains to be seen. But it was so charming I felt immensely better around the guy.

Don't get me wrong, if he tries taking my wrist to kiss it again I might just have to slice his fingers off.

"Oh, wow!" he said shaking his head, his hands on his hips; "You're pretty direct aren't you?"

I shrugged, "It has served me well in the past."

He nodded before he shook his head at the floor again. "That is sound logic, my lady." He sighed as he grinned down at me, all his teeth pearly white and each one barely pointed. "To answer your question, no, I do not plan any form of retaliation of what came to be a surprisingly entertaining duel. That sloth, Tayorinai," and he snarled at the name, "should have died a slow, agonizing death a long time ago."

Blinking at the animosity there, I gracefully stepped away from the demon, "That is great news. If you would excuse me, Okunote, I must find Sesshomaru."

"He's in the dining hall," the demon general said, "May I escort you there, my lady?"

I hesitated for a second, wondering what Sesshomaru would think if I waltzed into the dining hall hanging on Okunote's arm. I turned to Youkou, she bowed her head respectfully (and timidly if you asked me) "It would be a mild disgrace to Okunote's honor if you refused him, Mistress. And…" she looked up at me with a small smile, "it isn't quite proper for a lady to enter a crowd without an escort." I frowned sharply at her as Okunote exclaimed the matter settled.

Swallowing some pride and the itching worry of how Sesshomaru might act to this, I placed my hand on the crook of the demon's elbow. Bad or very bad, this would only end in two ways. Maybe my mate would go easy on me considering I'm still decked out in bruises. Or maybe Youkou was right that this _kimono_ would placate any ill feelings Sesshomaru might have at the moment.

I didn't get a chance to see myself in it since there weren't any mirrors around, but for the effort it took for Youkou to dress me up, he better say something…

**OfNightmaresandCourtlyDemons **

I suppose being the only human within a hundred mile radius makes entering a crowded room stealthily pretty impossible. But it wasn't like they all had to stop everything they were doing to turn and stare in my direction. At the very least most of them could have hid their roaring hatred of me. I mean, is that too much to ask for?

Of course I also blamed the stupid lesser who was standing at the entrance to the dining hall announcing everyone who entered. And yelling clearly "Lady Katsumi, Lord of the Westland's Mate," was probably better than a flashing neon sign that read "I'm weak and just waiting to be eaten! Start the line here!"

Then there were the mutterings that were hardly low enough to be labeled "muttering" in the first place! I mean, just because I came in with Okunote and Youkou and they were both announced _after_ me doesn't mean they have any excuse to call me a "_human whore_." Just because I'm human doesn't mean I automatically slept around for money. I'm pretty sure it doesn't. I'd know it if Webster got it wrong.

All I wanted was the get to Sesshomaru's side and sit there for the rest of the day.

_Hell's Bells!_ What I _really_ wanted to was to get back in my soft bed!

And if we're being honest, I'd rather I was back at my aunt's backyard with Sesshomaru…

But that's neither here nor there. As the demons glare and "mutter" I held my head up, the little ornament Youkou put in my hair had some dangling beads on it and they clicked as I passed every monster in the room. Okunote stayed with me every step of the way, but at this point _I _was leading _him_. And he totally let me do it. Youkou sticking with us like glue.

I realized by the time I actually found Sesshomaru he had been heading for me too. Good. Less work for me.

All thoughts of my amazing looks wowing him were shot clear out the water as my demon focus all his attention on Okunote. Jealous much, Mr. Demon Lord? I scoffed inwardly at him. _MEN!_ He stood in front of us, a few feet away. What was he waiting for?

Oh… Maybe me?

I pulled away from Okunote to try to calm Mr. Demon Lord down. But the oddest thing happened, when I went to pull away, Okunote's hand held mine tightly, keeping me too close. Sesshomaru's eyes flared sharply with power.

"Okunote," he said, and that voice was ice cold. I glared hotly at the general. Who does he think he is? Superman? Mr. Demon Lord would eat you for breakfast, son. It hurt, like the raging burning hurt you get right after you hear something pop sickly in your shoulder. But regardless of the pain, _no_ demon was going to hold me against my will! I ripped my hand away from Okunote. He stared at me, wide-eyed and stunned silent for the second time in his life. Without looking at him, I took the three steps to Sesshomaru.

I slipped next to him, easily fitting between his arm and his body. Then I took his hand in mine, the one wrapped up like a Christmas present, and place it in front of my body. I could feel _everybody's _eyes on me. But I felt like right now I could have kicked Okunote in the face and _no one_ would have stopped me.

It might be a bit of a stretch, but I think every demon in this room was _wary_ of me. Not the same as afraid, but hey, I'm on their radar nonetheless. Okunote burst again in mirthful laughter. I stared him down in my indifferent manner, but he just laughed, eyes closed, hand at his stomach. I could feel my irritation with him melting and that just pissed me off more.

Like a bloody puppy or something, I just couldn't stay mad at this guy.

I sighed, "Sesshomaru, Okunote was so kind as to escort me to you." I looked up at Mr. Demon Lord, still as a statue, as unreadable as ever, he looked between the two of us.

"You have quite the mate there, my lord." Okunote shook his head as he stood straight.

"I am aware." Sesshomaru eyed Okunote like he would an insect. Irritating, but not quite worth the effort it would take to squish him.

"Thank you, Okunote." I said nodding gently his way without looking at him. I had no idea what to do with Sesshomaru right now. I mean, this is my first time dealing with some kind of male prowess problem. I turned around, giving Sesshomaru a hint but he didn't budge.

Without changing his features my demon spoke with a calm authority, "Thank you, Okunote," before he turned away, guiding me to one of four long tables at the front of the hall.

He turned me carefully, his claws gracing my clothed shoulder before he sat next to me. I looked across the hall and swallowed sharply. We were displayed before all the demons, like some sort of easy pickings' buffet. My limbs stiffened, my blood rushed, my fingers gracing the leather strappings at my wrist, encasing my hidden blades.

Sesshomaru's voice ghosted through my red haze, "I will allow no harm to come to you."

"You better not." I whispered as I steeled my features into my indifferent mask.

**I can't believe how much positive feedback I received for the fight scene! I mean, I'm so glad y'all enjoyed it so much! Reading all that good stuff really pushed me to write some more!**

**You see how this works? You give me feedback, and I feel like writing more! I'm so glad we understand one another ^_^**

**So here we have some of Katsumi's past reveled. A wicked nightmare, huh? I LOVED writing her nightmare. I don't know why, but I did. If you're disappointed about Katsumi's appearance, it will be reveled in the next chapter. And I know Sesshomaru's thoughts were missing, I'm told by some that you like hearing more of Sesshomaru. I confess, I try not to write in Sesshomaru's POV, I don't want to ruin him, you know? I'd hate to make him too OOC. **

**That would just piss you off, right? I'd piss me off, even if I wrote it. ^_^**

**Any questions so far? I think I've been doing a fine job giving you what you need, and leaving you wanting more. But let me hear your thoughts. I love to hear your thoughts!**


	15. The Counsel of the Lords

**Alrighty then! This one goes out to **Hime-Sayu **and **SkittlesShadukeXD **because they both read the entire story in one night! How cool is that!? I totally admit I've done **_**that**_** before. **

**And, hey!-hey-hey, it's an update! Look at that! **xLunaAngelWarriorx**, please keep bugging me! Hope this is what you were looking for.**

The Counsel of the Lords

She was doing well – for the first human to join a counsel in several hundreds of years. Her back was straight, her features calm, but she was strained tight. In a single moment she could shatter. I should have made Youkou keep her in our room. I should have bound her to the bed and locked the door.

Of course, she'd still probably figure a way out. She would have found some way to track me down in that _particular kimono_, but perhaps it would have been some way that did not involve her hand laid upon Okunote's arm.

For some unfathomable reason when she strolled in with her head held high and her eyes narrowed looking for me, I was immediately pleased. Until I saw whom was escorting her, which now has left me with a sour aftertaste any time I see the East's general.

She had chosen a light gray, like dusk, material that hung off her wounded frame loosely. Perhaps her injuries hurt too much to wear it properly, or perhaps she didn't feel safe in something so close fitting. Her first _kimono_ barely peaked out from the edges of the gray one, a deep red. Her _obi_ was a lighter red and a faded floral pattern danced in the sunlight whenever she moved. The back of the _obi_ was large and elaborate, flowing down her small body and stroking the marble floor.

Overall she was captivating.

Quite unfortunate, for her to waste the effort to dress for these demons. _They _would not appreciate her efforts. Even as she stared ahead, face a mask of cold calculation, all they would see was her human limitations – as I had when I first saw her drenched like a forgotten stray in the blood of those lesser demons.

Most were now held at bay with her winning the dual.

The ornament in her hair clicked delicately as she eyed the servant who set a tray in front of her. The Feast was part of the Counsel's tradition. Upon the second day of the Counsel, the Lords would invite to eat with their fellow demons before convening for several days.

Deep inside me I wished I had prepared her better for this.

She waited, poised for someone to offer her a hint. _Right, that would be me…_

I leaned close to her, many would be able to hear what we said no matter how quiet we were, and yet there was very little to be done about it. She wasn't a fool, she knew better than to say something unnecessary in any demon's presence but my own.

"The Lords will bless the food. Then you may eat."

Her body adjusted slightly to lean closer to me as she said, "It is good to see you. I missed waking to your face."

If she hadn't sounded so stiff, her voice hard, I would I have allowed the quiet moment of pleasure her words instilled, instead I only discretely placed the feeling away for a more appropriate time. She knew how to play her part well. "I apologize for not waking you. Would you prefer I did so next time?"

She pondered, always such a cautious one, as the blush spreading across her cheeks foretold of her nerves. Finally she decided, "Yes." Her fingers flexed before she curled them around the red fabric of her first _kimono_. Without a thought I reached over and covered her nervous fidgeting with my hand. Her pulse quickened, her muscles strained. Then she relaxed a fraction before she looked up at me for the first time.

"Thank you."

It may have been the stress, the injuries coupled with the pressure of being displayed before her enemy, but she was slowly lowering her guards towards me. I had taken the hand with the jewelry, the band burned warmly in my palm.

Had I not been so distracted I would have focused harder to see if the pulsing was coming from her vein or from the jewelry.

Best we keep appearances, but this rare moment was for me, no one else. I would continue exploring her vulnerable state at a more appropriate time. For now I asked, "It took you some time, was Youkou of any help?"

Her sharp eyes caught mine for a moment longer before she turned slowly back to the audience before her, not really looking at any of them, but watching all of them at the same time. "She was quite helpful, thank you for your forethought." A small frown decorated her face, the tiniest wrinkling of her nose, "I wasn't aware of how bad it was." Her other hand emerged from the silks and she glared at the white bandages that covered all of her flesh.

Sighing she tucked the hand away; "Youkou seems to know how to make a show." Her hand shifted in mine as if she had meant to disentangle herself before she pulled the other out again, fluttering at her _kimono_. "I would not have been able to do this without her."

I thought for a moment I had imagined it, but when she tilted her head to look up at me I caught the spark of a challenge in her dark eyes. "She said this one was perfect." Then she stopped and waited for me to say something.

Something specific.

"It is quite a show." I said treading territory I was unfamiliar with. "Are you well? The material is heavy and you haven't healed completely."

She scoffed quietly, apparently that was not specific enough. "I am fine." Her hand began to tug free from mine.

I clutched it a bit tighter, "You look beautiful." I tried again. This time she blushed and carefully hid a smile that broke through her mask. Her hand came up to fiddle with the bauble in her hair, the sleeve concealing her outbreak like a curtain. I saw through it. Perhaps she had meant to have me see it. Perhaps she had only wanted me to see it.

Even though we were performing for the other demons, and a complement from me that would cause such a response from her would have been inline with our goal, I am certain Katsumi still wished for the true happiness she felt at a true statement from me to be kept between us.

As Toudai stood and began his blessings, I drew away from my mate. This day would no doubt be the longest in my life.

**TheCounseloftheLords**

It took some thought, some serious willpower to not burst with the sudden giddiness I felt at Sesshomaru's simple comment. Yes, Youkou had said Sesshomaru would like this _kimono_. Yes, I had initially worn it to get a response from him. And I had, and it had been almost _too_ easy to do. Still I wasn't prepared for his stalking honesty.

He could have said the sky was green and grass was blue and I would have completely believed him.

Even though he had said it merely as a simple truth and not some form of flattery, I still felt the world shift into happy-sunshine-and-rainbows-everyday world.

As the Lords offered their blessings, just the three and a strange silence in the absence of the fourth lord, Jaken sidled up into an empty pillow placed on Sesshomaru's other side and slightly in front of him. The toad seemed more irritated than usual. But he said not a word as he bowed elaborately to his Lord, at Sesshomaru's nod Jaken took his seat. _Where have _you_ been?_

There were other demons seated at the feet of the Lords, advisors like Jaken I supposed, and the Lords' mates placed to their right. At the other tables there were other demons seated as well, Okunote sat at the table farthest from Sesshomaru's and the gaping hole in the middle told me that the generals were also permitted in the Lords' circle. I supposed every demon at the four special tables were to par take in the meeting.

Lady Kinaga looked slightly bored as she picked up a furry little thing from her plate. Her eyes met mine as she swallowed the live mouse whole. My stomach flicked in protest. My wounds burned in warning. I'm pretty sure I dropped a few shades paler, but I merely watched her for a moment before turning away. _I see you Kinaga, and I'm not that impressed._

But I was sweating, and my hands were shaking inside the large sleeves. I brushed the worn leather holding my thin blades again. When I knew I wouldn't pass out I looked up to find Toudai staring at me. Well, he may have been facing his mate and listening but something inside me squirmed at the metal headpiece.

Instead I focused on his mate, thin and frail, like an irritated gust of wind could have crippled her, the she-demon at the North Lord's right sat poised and proper. But she was too bright. Something glimmered and shimmered on her skin and the daylight from the open windows made her glow in an ethereal light. I turned back to my meal right before she caught my eye. My head hurt just from a glance at the back of her head.

But if I did anything silly like rub my eyes or shake my head, I'd probably offend some demon and there'd be another mess to deal with. Instead I immersed myself in my food, fruit and some kind of roasted meat – honestly I had no idea what I was eating. The world was a blur and I only sat still as it raced by me.

The Lords conversed with one another and the drum of conversation in a large room stifled some of the unease in me. It was like the mess hall if I didn't focus on any one dialect too hard.

"She is a bit of a wild cat," Kinaga was saying, her words slipping over themselves. "Surprise hardly begins to describe your tastes, Sesshomaru."

"Is it really all that surprising Kinaga?" Toudai interjected in that same good-naturedly tone. "It seems that Sesshomaru is more like his father than we all considered."

The Lord of the South chuckled and it was a dark, almost bitter thing, "I doubt even your father would have picked up this little pet."

I bit my lip to hold back my sarcasm. _Look at that! I do have some restraint._

"That is not kind, Kinaga," Sesshomaru said as he sipped on his tea, the only thing that was brought to him for the feast.

"I did not mean for it to be unkind. Perhaps I only meant that you and your father are not as similar as Toudai claims."

"She has ears, and a tongue." I said in a smooth tone as I locked eyes with the snake she-demon. "If there is something you wish to know, please feel free to ask, my lady."

She bristled, if she could blush in indignation she would have. But she was quick to compose herself and smiled at me, displaying her strange smile with her missing eye-teeth. I bit my cheek, maybe yesterday was only a prelude. Maybe I die today.

"Quite, how silly of me to not think to acknowledge _you_." Her smile turned cold and I thought she was going to protrude her fangs just for kicks. "Where did you come from, Lady Katsumi?"

"I'm not from the main island." I said fishing through our carefully rehearsed lie. "I was on my way here when my ship sank just off shore."

"Your ship sank?" Kyoukou asked around a mouthful of what looked like dried twigs, or beetles – probably beetles.

"Yes. I am the only survivor."

He stared at me, before turning to his mate, then back again "Really? The only survivor?" Then he looked to Sesshomaru, "Did you investigate the ship?"

My mate kept his eyes closed through the whole discussion and continued to looked elegantly bored as he answered the other demon, "I did. The Captain was unfamiliar with the cove and sent the ship among the jagged bank." I assumed everyone else knew what cove he was talking about because he didn't give a name or specific landmark near it.

But demons did not care for names like humans did.

"How did you manage to avoid the bank?" Kinaga asked. I could tell she was fascinated, as much as she didn't want to be.

"The same way I managed to defeat Tayorinai," she blinked at a loss, "with luck."

Toudai chuckled at my joke – which was not a joke at all but complete truth – and the rest of the demons stared at him for a moment before Kinaga humbly smiled at me, her lips closed and her eyes bright. So… She thinks I'm funny too?

A burning sensation at the back of my neck told me someone was staring at me, I wasn't sure if making eye contact with Toudai's mate was such a good idea. When I didn't meet her gaze her deep voice cut the conversation between Okunote and another demon clean off.

"How did you come across Lord Sesshomaru?" I bit the inside of my cheek again. Her voice was cold, sharp, like an old governess. All manners and protocol, looking down on you as if you are the unsightly bug beneath her shoe.

"I was trapped in a foreign land, a lone survivor of my ship, and suddenly I'm attacked by a handful of demons." I played on their captivation, demons loved a bloodbath. "There are demons from where I come from as well, and I am not completely helpless, as you have seen. Once they made their intentions to kill me, I killed them first." Toudai's mate sneered as she looked down on me. Whether she believed me or not wasn't too much of a concern, it would be whether she believed Sesshomaru.

"I found her in my territory, killing on my land." Sesshomaru picked up. Just as uninterested as if we were discussing the weather. "Naturally, I intended to kill her as well."

I stared at him, remembering the way he threw me against the tree. "But you didn't," I said smiling as if this were an inside joke.

"No, I didn't," he finally opened his eyes to catch mine.

Kinaga giggled, "And why didn't you?"

"She surprised me," Sesshomaru answered, going back to his tea, our moment over. "She received the upper hand."

Toudai laughed right then, startling his mate and advisor and just about every single demon in the room, "She beat you?!" he paused to catch his breath, "This little human beat you?"

"I did not take into account how desperate she was." Sesshomaru deadpanned as if this were common knowledge.

Kinaga caught my eye with surprise and mild amusement. "And why did you not kill him?" she asked, leaning slightly on her table, her long spike claws stroking the remaining little mouse.

I turned to Sesshomaru and smiled again, "**Because I saw something different in him**." It was dangerous to use my Influence, but we had discussed it often enough that it was completely necessary. They would sense something off with my words, but they would see no reason to doubt them. And it wasn't like I was compelling them to do something, like when I first met Sesshomaru and told him to leave me be.

Okunote turned to Sesshomaru, "And you didn't kill her merely to save your honor at the first chance you got?"

"She offered me mercy; it would have been a waste to kill such an interesting creature."

"Indeed," Kinaga drawled, her mouse mysteriously gone from her plate.

I melted away from the conversation after that as it shifted to other topics. My eyes drifted over the sea of demons before me and I realized most of their beady, glittering eyes were on me.

**TheCounseloftheLords**

The Feast ended soon after and I was glad for it. My stomach began to shrink the longer I sat in front of a room full of creatures meant for children's story books. As they filter out the grand room, Sesshomaru helped me to my feet to escort me to where the counsel would meet. So, step one, not die on entry: completed. Step two, not die during my first dual: completed. Step three, not die as we lie through our teeth: completed. Only thing left was to no die while Sesshomaru tries to explain how I cannot be left alone for long periods of time and therefore must be a part of their counsel.

None of them actually agreed to it, but Sesshomaru seemed to be the Lord no one trifled with. I had been thinking about it since we showed up – you know around the hundreds of demons breathing down my neck, the dual with Tayorinai, the recovery period, and the parading and displaying. Sesshomaru is the only one here besides his advisor to represent the Western Lands. He has no general, no lesser demons to flaunt his power, no servants to wait on him, and before today not even a mate to dine with him.

The only conclusion I ended up with as he lead me, my hand on his arm, to the meeting room was that Sesshomaru must be the Western Lands Lord and General. He must heavily rely on Jaken. He probably does all the work, all the important work, and he probably leaves the rest of it to either be ignored or be dealt with at the last possible second.

How can a country be run by a guy like that?

You know, I feel really sorry for the poor she-demon Sesshomaru actually mates; she's going to have one full house to clean.

"Remember, she is not to join in our discussions," Kyoukou snarled, he and Toudai's mate being the unhappiest with the arrangement. "She is to sit by and wait, like a good human."

I scoffed at him, completely by reflex, but otherwise ignoring his sulking. Who couldn't acknowledge what kind of trouble I'd get into separated from Sesshomaru? It was a mixture of the hostility of the other she-demons, my being a foreigner and a human one at that, and the newness of our bound that convinced the majority of the council members to let me in their club.

But the air was thick as I sat in a small chair – thank goodness I'm not sitting on the floor! – set slightly behind Sesshomaru. The other chairs were set up in a circle with a noticeable gap between lands. The Eastern Lands, set up right across from Sesshomaru and I, had a chair set up for Tayorinai but Okunote sat in a smaller chair slightly behind her. Huh, maybe my chair was supposed to be for Sesshomaru's general. Jaken sat on a stool near Sesshomaru's feet.

It probably would have been comical to watch the toad struggle to sit in a chair the same size as mine.

Comedy is in short supply at demon conventions, may I warn you.

"The annual Counsel of Lords is now in session," Toudai, the eldest of the Lords pronounced, "First item of business is the matter of the South vs. the North for herding rights."

I sat stunned silent for several hours, probably the quietest I've ever been in my life! I should get a medal for it, really! These demons discuss matters of the most boring kind. But it was all mildly amusing how dull and common they were. The South argued for more land to continue herding, the North argued for more land for mining, the East – represented by Okunote – mentioned rebellions cropping up, which Sesshomaru seconded and a two hour discussion ensued on how best to deal with rebelling humans.

I watched Okunote as the counsel proceeded. He would offer insight, experience as a general and knowledge acquired from living in the East all his life. But his voice was not the loudest and several times his comments would be overlooked. The general of the North hardly spoke at all. She was a tall, thin, she-demon. Appearing in her early thirties and looking as ready for battle as Sesshomaru in her leather armor and _katana_ at the ready on her belt.

However, the general of the South was full of gusto, ready with an opinion at every topic. His shiny, black hair was far longer than any man's needed to be. At least Sesshomaru could pull it off. On this guy all that hair looked messy. His dark eyes took in everything and I saw the way they looked at the world: everything was his. Black and gold silk clung to him and hung from him and it might have been to display his wealth and position, but I only thought it looked tacky.

But what struck me and made my blood run cold were what I thought to be wings were really legs. Eight black spider legs jutted from his spine and flared about his chair. I don't like spiders much. Not the giant and furry ones that are said to eat birds as part of their natural diet. Those little garden spiders are fine; they eat mosquitoes.

All I could think about when I saw him was getting a giant book to drop on him. The mental image did my heart rate some good, at least.

I turned back to Okunote, he really knew what he was talking about. His comments were consistent to the well-being of his demon residents, and the co-existence with humans, which surprised me. Well hey, Sesshomaru had Rin. So maybe he wasn't alone in the protection of the human race. After all, Sesshomaru himself said some demons recognized the importance of us. I'm sure he compared us to cattle in some way, but cows give milk more so than beef, right?

Right..?

After a quick break, the real juicy bits of politics jumped in.

To my surprise Sesshomaru lead this proceeding. He said his part in every discussion, stated his vote clearly and if questioned always defined his reasoning. But he only spoke the barest minimum, never any more than necessary. He called the room to order, and stated "Before we continue, I would like to ask for a transfer." The silence that stretched terribly and uncomfortably meant that everyone else thought it was weird for Sesshomaru to say anything he didn't need to.

"A transfer of whom?" Kinaga asked, breaking the awkward tension.

"I would like to ask Toudai of the North Lands to transfer the lake demon Youkou."

Toudai chuckled in surprise, "Youkou? What could you possibly want with Youkou?"

"I have a lake in need of protection."

"Youkou is young. She has barely connected with the lake she is with right now."

"Making it a far easier transition than asking of the older ones to transfer."

Toudai leaned slightly forward in his chair, probably pondering as to the real reason Sesshomaru would want the little she-demon. "Which lake?"

"The large lake that separates the West from the East."

More silence covered the room like a thick blanket. I watched Sesshomaru make eye contact with Okunote for a moment as the general of the East sucked in a sharp breath. Finally Toudai agreed, although it seemed more like he didn't want to, "Very well, I believe she is rather fond of your mate anyway. She may do well with the transition."

"My Lord," the North Lord's mate hissed next to him, "You would give away Youkou without my blessing? You would give him Youkou and ask for nothing in return?"

The way she worded it, I wondered if this she-demon's priorities were kinda wacked.

Toudai tilted his head her way but did not turn in her direction, "Youkou is of _my_ land. I choose what is best for _her_ not always for myself." But the way that metal mask stared soullessly at Sesshomaru I knew that there was an unsaid collection plate involved here.

A small movement from the general behind Toudai caught my eye. Nothing obvious gave her away, but I had to wonder if she hated Sesshomaru in that moment…

After another odd silence, "Next order of business is the succession of the Eastern Lord," Kinaga drawled as the glowing dust on her shoulders sprinkled and sparked down to the floor. I noticed the whole chair she sat on was made of stone and scorched a dark charcoal.

In the next second, the tense silence of Sesshomaru's request was forgone to the abrupt screaming match that followed. Everyone and their cat had a representative they wished to shove into the East Lands. Now, I'm no politician, which is mostly why not joining in their counsel didn't bother me so much. But I'm not dumb, if you want some demon from your turf to sit on another kingdom's throne, I'm pretty sure it's all about power struggle. Why else would you uproot someone who has no idea how to run the East since they live in the South? My eyes watched Sesshomaru for a moment. He sat listening to every screech and snarl.

How would the East even feel about this? Okunote sat just as quietly. A sharp frown meant he wasn't pleased with the fight, but he also showed no intentions of joining in.

Really, no one should have expected me to be so quiet for so long.

"Why not Okunote?" I didn't yell, per say, more like I asked at just the right time when everyone seemed to be taking a breath to continue their arguments. My voice more than anything must have shut them up. Then the words started sinking in.

"Okunote?" Kyoukou balked at me, he probably forgot I was even sitting here, half of them probably did.

"Lord Sesshomaru, there were _conditions_ to having your mate attend our meeting." The Southern general snapped as he eyed me in unpleasant and sickening kind of way. Nothing like the spider eyeing the fly when the spider is _really_ a spider…

"I apologize; I haven't been paying near enough attention to her." Toudai snickered, revealing some of the tension. "However, I am afraid she does have a point." Sesshomaru met Okunote's eye, and to his credit the general of the East did not look away. "What say you, Okunote?"

"I do not wish for more power." The demon said, and although his words came across as, I suppose, _insulting_ to the others, he brushed his hair away from his shoulders as if this were common knowledge.

But it just pissed me off. "You don't wish for more power?" His Caribbean blue eyes locked with mine and I could clearly see I pissed him off as well. Good, equal footing then. "If that is all there is to it then _you_ should be Lord without a doubt."

He clenched his jaw. Then, abruptly remembered his place and who was sitting next to me. "Lady Katsumi, you misunderstand me…"

"I don't think so. You don't want more power, who else is more suited to own that power?" I scoffed at Kinaga, "Do you really think some lackey from the South knows the land better than you?" He puffed up at that. "Would a representative of the West know how the demons and humans interact better than you?"

When he didn't say anything I surged forward, "Okunote, who _really_ should be the Lord?"

"I – I'm a general, not a lord. I wouldn't-"

"That is enough!" Kinaga snapped, Toudai's mate looked just as peeved, "Clearly he doesn't want it! And by his cowardice who would follow him?"

Okunote and I locked eyes, "Who _would _follow him?" He knew. The army he led now. The humans he protected and controlled now would follow him. They would follow him over some new lord answering to another.

"If I may interject?" another demon spoke. She was tall and willowy, her long hair tied back into one long and thick braid. In the faded lighting it may have been dark lavender and pale purple mixture. Her eye lashes were long; her inked-out eyes seemed large, like those wide innocent eyes of children and Disney characters. But there was age in her eyes; there were significant lines on her face, deliberate tell-tale signs of her age. I counted the chairs and remembered this she-demon was Toudai's general.

Well, she had the commanding voice of one. Every soul in the room quieted at her level tone. "The Lady makes an excellent point. Okunote, as a general has knowledge that would greatly benefit him if he were to accept the position."

"That is _enough _from you." Tousai's mate stated in that same cold, ugly, tone she used for me. But it was colder, fouler, and full of disgust and hate. This general was not someone this she-demon even tolerated. Her very presence seemed to offend her.

To avoid _that_ with a twenty foot pole, I turned to Sesshomaru and waited. He pondered to himself a good long while as the other Lords and demons discussed this new action with as much noise as they had with the initial question. After a long time of arguing and name-calling in demon tongues, Sesshomaru said, "As with everything, we will put it to a vote." He looked at Okunote with an unreadable expression. "All in favor of Okunote as Tayorinai's replacement, to become the Eastern Lands' Lord," he paused as the "ayes" reined the room into order. I offered my own hand even though I knew it didn't count.

When the "nays" sounded clearly unmatched Sesshomaru settled the matter squarely and neatly. Okunote was now the Eastern Lord. He moved to the center seat and each Lord then greeted him personally, offering their special congratulations and probably plotting how best to suck up to the new guy.

As the dust settled Toudai continued on to the next topic and I respectfully tuned out. Okunote was rapped with attention now that he was appointed and offered more thought than before, practically taking his promotion like a fish to water. I knew he'd do fine.

Every now and then he would lock eyes with me, and what I saw there was more than the boyish charm from earlier. He was grateful, I think.

The general from the North was eyeing me too. Her eyes were an inked out deep violet as she held my gaze for several long minutes before she decided something and looked away. I'm not sure if I won her approval or anything, but she didn't outright despise me like her mistress.

Small blessings are all I can ask for at this point.

**TheCounseloftheLords**

Day one of the counsel ended sharply. My involvement in the Eastern Lord's promotion set everybody on edge. There were mutterings all around us as we returned to our room, most of them came for Jaken as he followed us (I shut the door on his face before he could come in). Sesshomaru promised refreshments, food, a bath and the works to help me. He was replaced with Youkou so she could help me change my bandages, help me bathe and dress into another elaborate _kimono_. This little number had been all Kinu's I bet. It was mixtures of greens, of every shade imaginable, but it was supposed to hang low on the shoulders. Youkou said that because I was injured this would be perfect for me; only one layer, light and soft, made to be worn loose, it was _perfect_.

You know, I wonder if maybe Youkou and Sesshomaru have a small pact going on behind the scenes. A _kimono this _loose wasn't meant for some injured woman. After the little lake she-demon left I busied myself with twirling my knives, waiting for Mr. Demon Lord to come back. The longer I waited, the more the band burned on my skin, which was an oh-so-cheerfully new side effect. But every time I looked down, my wrist would look as unmarred as the day I was born.

Then I started wondering if I could throw my knife into Sesshomaru's chest plate.

He opened the old wood door just then, his eyes finding me in an instant. Perhaps I looked a bit hostile because he closed the door and stood far away for a long second. Funny thing, the burning sensation did not go away. We were in the same room, I could see him clearly, and the uneasy, and now _painful_, feeling did not go away.

"Hey," I said to break the tension. "Where were you?" _Oh man! I sound like a distrustful wife!_

He straightened, his dark eyes watching me as he stepped into the room. "I had to offer my blessings to Okunote and present him to his subjects."

"Oh? Why you?"

"One of the other three Lords must present a new Lord to prove it was a decision the Counsel made and not something that particular demon did on his own." The air was still too thick for my tastes. I sighed; the burning was still there, but with one look I could tell nothing was immediately wrong with me.

"Sesshomaru, does the jewelry bother you any?" Wow, way to be direct. Well, I don't really have any tact when it comes to Demon Lords so this is all he gets.

Although the subject change was abrupt, Sesshomaru did not show it. "Bother me in what way?" he asked; his eyes had followed mine to my wrist.

I shrugged, as if this didn't bother me one bit, "Like how it bothers me, you know? Like how I get really distracted when I'm away from you, or any kind of physical discomfort?"

His eyes narrowed but he answered me anyway, "It doesn't affect me like that, no."

"So it does affect you?"

Silence does not make me feel better, maybe if I touched him, maybe the jewelry just needed to know he was there. In a couple of steps I was in front of him, watching his face as he carefully picked and chose his words for me.

"I forget it is there." It was like he threw a bucket of cold water at my face. Completely unlike anything I was expecting. My hand was on fire and he _forgot_ it was there? Something in my face must have gave me away because he continued, "It is like it has been there all along." His hand caressed the pearl-like band, the fire finally quelled. "More than distraction, I feel as if it is _natural_ to be there."

The words were not what I wanted to hear. I nearly ripped my hand from his but the thought of being burned by imaginary flames kept me still. Sesshomaru brought my hand up and examined the band in the lanterns' light. His eyes glittered as the light reflected off the jewelry.

"What do you think that means?" Not sure why I'm whispering, but I didn't want to shatter his intense focus.

"Right now I'm not sure, but I will ponder on it." Gold eyes flicked from my wrist to my face. His gaze stole my breath away. All day had been miserable, from the aches and pains of yesterday, being displayed like a game prize, sitting for who knows how long, and the agonizing chatter of demon politics. All I wanted right now was some alone time with a demon I wasn't sure was safe or not – but I'm starting to think that doesn't really matter.

"We did well today, with our story and all." I said as he slowly drew me closer to him.

"You did very well. If I didn't know better I would have thought you were a demon in another life." Although it shouldn't have, his comment brought a grin to my face.

"I will take that as a compliment," my smile could not be helped, and a playful smirk tug at Sesshomaru's lips as I leaned closer to him.

We were close enough to share a breath.

That thought caught hold of me and the air suddenly shifted. The playfulness, the easy touch, the simple caress were no longer enough.

"Are you going to kiss me, Sesshomaru?"

He had the gall to snarl at me. "Woman, could you not talk for one minute?"

To that I had to grin. I mean, come on, he knew who he was talking to, right? "Do you really want me to answer-?" I shivered and the rest was lodged somewhere in my throat as he dragged the back of his claws along my spine. Stupid _kimono_, I bet Sesshomaru and Kinu had a pact made somewhere along too!

"What if I am?" his cool voice sent another sensation jolting through my body. Demons should not be allowed to sound so damned cocky. He gave me a hint of fang in his snarky smirk, "What are you going to do about it?"

I snatched at the back of his neck, surged as far as I could on my tip-toes, and brought my face as close to his as possible, "I'll probably enjoy it very much, and I might bite you."

Oh… well… I guess _that _wasn't something he was expecting. I mean, his eyes kinda lit up and sorta gleamed with this_ excitement._ Then, he was kissing me. No warning, his lips suddenly ravished mine and I could do nothing at all but revel in it. And I wouldn't have done it differently anyway.

He was quick; I had to give it to him. Before I could respond he had his tongue already stealing my voice. His hand roamed the exposed skin of my shoulder, claws a delicate sensation that sent fire through my bloodstream – but this was the good kind. His body bent over mine, forcing me to bend back and just… enjoy it. And boy was I enjoying myself.

Of course, who am I to sit by and just observe the sport? I pulled on his long hair and when that didn't get a reaction from him I bit his lip, hard. He pulled back, looking slightly… putout… oh, I think he was pouting – as much as a demon lord could pout. And while he was busy pouting, I slipped under his arm and stood as close as possible to his back. My breath was crazy fast, like I had run a marathon – or a dozen since running doesn't bother me so much.

I kissed my way up his clothed back. Vertebra by vertebra, inch by inch, I started just where his armor stopped up to the edge of his neck – where my height kept me from reaching his ear. Sesshomaru turned and watched me with impossibly gold eyes. Slowly he began to remove his belt and swords. He continued to watch me as he set his weapons against the wall. It was… bold. He was willingly unarming himself with me. Trust issues and symbolic unlocks and all that jazz. Whatever. All I cared about was him, and his body, and his mouth, kissing me like he just did a hundred times over.

I wasn't nearly as patient as he was – I hardly ever am. I unbuckled the straps across my chest and tossed the leather behind me, knives and all. I slipped a hand under my skirt and detached the hidden knife on my ankle, and then my switchblade. Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow at me. "Got any more I should know about?"

He was kidding, but I only smirked as I whipped out one of my daggers from seemingly nowhere and threw it at the wall behind him. The blade hadn't even hit home when something jolted in him and he crashed my body against his again. My mouth sought his, but he was busy suckling my neck. A sound escaped me. Something primal and needful, something I had never heard before. Sesshomaru grinned against my skin.

"So responsive. I haven't even done anything."

I tried to keep my voice from shaking; it came out hard and slightly vengeful, "You don't have to." He chuckled low and deep and dark into my hair before he took a deep lungful of my scent. Oh, I don't know what it is about some demon smelling me – no, not _just _"some demon" – but it sent my blood pumping.

I threw a leg over his hips, which told me my _kimono_ was _not_ in a decent fashion at all, before I started pulling at his clothes.

Sesshomaru kissed his way farther down my neck while his hand gripped my thigh, when his flesh met mine it felt like sunshine – as terribly cheesy as it sounds. It was intoxicating, oh yes it was! It was warm, his hand, and I had been so cold. It was better, like I hadn't felt sunshine all my life and this was the first time.

Then his hand moved. And that sunshine became the sun itself, branding my skin. I gasped. It was just a kiss. One kiss. And, it had been my first. What was I getting myself into? What did one kiss _mean_ with a demon? What had I allowed by letting him in so close?

Panic set in fast. It wasn't like I could just push him away. He'd probably take offense to that. What had he told me back in my kitchen so very long ago? I had done something, reacted to him like I was now, and when I tried to run away he said "Don't." I couldn't run away this time.

His hand kept moving. I grew more panicked. It wasn't like I didn't want to be… with… him? Did I? I had been raised with a pure hatred for demons. Half-breeds were barely tolerated. What had possessed me to think that I could love Sesshomaru? More than the timeline fiasco, my parents would probably carve me up for dinner if they knew what I was doing right now!

I shut my eyes tight. I couldn't go through with it. But I couldn't push him away either.

Then I heard a familiar _shink_! Like one of my daggers slipping through a sheath. I stared at the one I had forgotten about, then at Sesshomaru. And I knew he saw my dilemma, my indecision, my fear.

He flicked the blade behind him and I watched, morbidly fascinated, as it planted itself right next to its pair in the wall. When I looked at Sesshomaru, he sighed, "I have pushed passed boundaries I shouldn't have." I gulped. "Forgive me, Katsumi." I blushed as he detached my leg and began to right my disheveled clothing.

_He _was apologizing? _Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands,_ was asking for forgiveness from _me?!_ It boggled the mind. It almost hurt to think about. Never had I heard a demon _apologize_ for anything!

All he had done was kiss me!

"H-hey," I grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard to get him to look at me. "It's not like I didn't enjoy it." He narrowed his eyes at me. "We just…" I frowned and huffed some of my frustration out, "We just need to set some guidelines." When he didn't say anything I rushed ahead blindly, "We both know I'm going to have to go back to my present one day." His hand stiffened in mine. Why was this so hard to say?

_You know why; because you're a bloody idiot._

_And you have some kind of death wish._

"You can kiss me again. Just while we are stuck together. Maybe just until I have to go back," I sighed at his chest plate, too cowardly to look him in the eyes. "We can pretend." When he didn't move I did.

It was weird. He didn't respond, didn't move as I kissed him. I'm not experienced, like the demon ladies. I don't know how to allure men. I don't understand sex appeal. But I combed a hand through his hair, resting the tip of my finger to the tip of his ear, and I linked my hand and fingers into his. I wasn't sure if what I was doing was "right," but it felt natural to me, so I did them.

**TheCounseloftheLords**

She would be the end of my sanity. Was it possible for there to be such a cold killer, a ruthless demon mate, and an innocent virgin all in one woman? Death was hers to command, politics was hers to play with, but the second I merely touch her, she's melting or running. Even now, as her lips caress gently against mine, her hand twined in mine, her body pressed unafraid against mine – there is no hesitation, no question to her hand in my hair or her bare foot rubbing along my calf. There is only a quiet and heated curiosity. And it calls to me like blood to a fledgling.

It has an effect on me, like her spell singer's voice. I feel it, my whole body demanding, seeking to ail her of her curiosity. If I give in, would she survive?

_It's not like I didn't enjoy it. You can kiss me again._

Could I? Could I kiss her and not give in to my temptations? Did she have so much faith in me?

_We can pretend._

As she pulled away it was a loss greater than anything physical. "I guess I ruined the mood, huh?" She was to blame? Was she not? No, this was my weakness. She had done nothing wrong. Except expect too much of me.

Katsumi turned away; her cheeks flushed a dark crimson. I growled, inwardly at myself and outwardly at her cowering. I am no weakling. If she were to be my temptation I will just have to preserve, would I not? Wallowing in self-pity, taking up the blame when _she _started this whole mess, it is not my nature. I caught her wrist in a vise-like grip, not strong enough to hurt, but enough to keep her close, enough to force her to frown at me.

"You turn away from me like that again…" I pulled myself up to my full height – I know it bothers her – before I pulled her up as well wrapping my arm around her waist. "You are my mate, are you not? You stand on par with me, do you not?" I took three long strides and had her pinned to the wall in seconds. "Well?" I pressed.

She only stared, a hare caught in the fox's sight. Then, like coaxing a fire to life, her eyes widened. I would play her game. We could pretend all she wished. "Damn straight I'm your mate." She glared at me, doing her damnest to look down at me – she was close, with eyes like that I'm sure she already cloaked herself in some of my enemies' fear.

"Prove it," I grinned, though I wasn't sure why.

Ever the opportunist, she wasted no time and slid her hand along the nape of my neck – a feeling I would indeed have her employ whenever we are alone. Her other hand took a handful of clothing right before she pulled me to her. It was gentle, like before, but she commanded I participate. There was no more waiting on her end. I engaged her challenge. My tongue glided over her lips and she offered me a moan of approval before I pried her mouth open.

"We can pretend." I said in between breaths, "I will offer you everything, show you what it would be like." I wrenched a harsh sound from her as I pressed closer to whisper in her ear, "While I have you, you are mine."

It was a slow learning, even though she was a sharp student. I enjoyed her frustrations as I repeated myself, again and again. This woman was untouched, and I would make sure that there would be nothing left for any other if she wished to return to her world.

But I did not give in to the temptress's song. I kissed her, for as long as I could I kissed her. There should be some kind of recognition for the kind of resolve I mastered. Truth be, I did not mind. Though the ache to rip her clothes off was strong, merely kissing her pleased me enough that I could ignore it.

It must have been how responsive she was to me. My fingers twitched against her hip and she would tilt her head to the side giving me a better angle for her. I pushed harder against the wall and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I would give her a growl of approval and she would caress the back of my neck again. She was a seer; she knew what I asked for without having to say a word.

Her little tongue caressed the roof of my mouth and I had to slam my fist into the wall beside her to hold together my control. It was growing near excruciating, but I would prevail against my Temptress.

**So how about THEM APPLES?!**

**Yes, it has been too long and I'm sure y'all are super pissed about that. And you're not going to like the fact that since school is starting up soon I'm going to take just as long (or longer) to post updates. But you can help! If you keep replying and telling me why you're "Favoriting" or asking for "Alerts" then I feel the motivation to write!**

**Now, for those of you who were super pissed, that kiss scene was for you!**

_**YOU'RE WELCOME!**_

**That kiss scene had been one of the first scenes I wrote for this story and I _knew_ I was going to use it eventually during Demon-paluza (as I have dubbed the Counsel of the Lords) and this spot here just made the most sense. I mean, the ending part kinda reminded me of a "friends with benefits" scenario, and we _all_ know those _NEVER_ work. **

**And how about THAT for a cliff hanger!? I mean, if you want to know what happens _now_ then you HAVE to do the motivating here, huh? See, I _am_ an evil genius! This is the only reason why I think y'all stay with me after so much time between updates.**

**Now here's where _YOU_ hold the power! Review and tell me what you like! Tell me what you don't like (PLEASE)! And my personal favorite, tell me what you want to see more of (If it's "More of Sesshomaru's thoughts" I may have to ignore that one; remember how I said I'm afraid of making him OOC?)! What do you think of my demons? Are they believable to the Inuyasha universe? How's Katsumi holding up? You sick of her in anyway? I don't want her being all "mary-sue" and the like. How's _that_ for some Sesshomaru goodness~~~? :3 **

**And did anyone notice my chapters have TITLES now? How super cool is that?!**

**Really, and I totally mean this, reviews make my day. I will seriously go out of my way, and not sleep for _hours_ because a quirky review inspired me. So have at it and go all out! **


	16. A Date with Revenge

**So…this semester sucks.**

**After so long will my faithful readers still stand by me? Time to find out!**

"Blast this cursed jewelry!" Pushing harder doesn't do a damned thing even if I struggle, scream, and repeat. But maybe if I break my thumb and realign all of my fingers it will just slip off. No, I haven't forgotten that the magical bane of my sanity is a one-size-fits-all. But a girl can only take so much!

It burns in my sleep. Did you know that?! It bloody burns me in my sleep! Sesshomaru steps out to do whatever demons do in the middle of the night because this demon doesn't sleep and now I'm considering how fast I can break my thumb then realign all the bones in my hand before the bracelet shrinks. Oh, and all the while it feels like I dumped my arm in a pot of boiling oil!

The good news, the pain is spreading. Yes, that is sarcasm. _THERE IS NO GOOD NEWS!_ The pain, phantom flame as I've come to curse it, is no longer in my arm; it's everywhere. My body burns as if the room were on fire. Pain is no stranger, but this is agony. True and utter agony, the kind of pain thought of in the interrogation pits back home, it's worse than anything I've ever experience. Worse than being slammed into a tree, worse than being cut to ribbons by supernatural hair, worse than cold claws slicing my stomach wide open.

The oak doors open just in time as I snarl a particularly nasty oath against Naraku and all the spawn begotten from him. This is all _his_ fault anyway, am I right? _He_ had some power play with Sesshomaru and I got caught in the crossfires! I mean, I don't even _know_ this demon and he's trapped me in some shiny, and _painful_ prison.

I'm not sure when he showed up. One moment I'm curled up in the middle of the bed, in the next second I'm wrapped up in Sesshomaru's fluffy garment and pressed against one warm body. His face is strained, eyes narrowed, eyebrows tilted inward, lips pursed. The arm holding me is tight, just barely not painful but I can feel the tension, he could snap at any moment.

I sigh as the pain leaves. But as I relax I feel everything else. The soreness, the cuts and bruises, I was wound tight just like Sesshomaru is and now my body hates me. I groan and curl further into the fluff. If only I could really run away from the pain. What I'd bloody give just for a Tylenol!

"Katsumi?" _Oh, his voice_… Like balm it soothes my nerves, the rest of my tension leaving, the aches receding, the afterglow of the phantom fire is extinguished, and I want nothing more than to crawl back under the blankets with this demon lord with me.

I'm pretty weak, aren't I?

"Katsumi? What is wrong?" I don't want to talk about it. I'm sick of this jewelry kicking my ass every chance it gets.

But Sesshomaru will not stop asking unless I answer. "It's beginning to hurt more, whenever you're gone." I growl inside; I'm really weak.

He doesn't say anything, and he gets major brownie points for his silence. I mean, if he said one thing about my humanity I'd probably just have to kill him on principle and deal with the consequences later. Those consequences being my death, but it's too early in the morning to think straight.

His nose nuzzled into my hair and I wished I brushed it before he showed up. But, well, who has time for primping when you're in agony? "Are you better?" I considered that, I didn't hurt as much, didn't need as many bandages as before, some of the bruising was gone, and the longer I touched Sesshomaru the less I even remembered the phantom fire.

"I'm better," I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I think I preferred the uneasiness I felt before the pain."

Sesshomaru was in no mood to joke. He held me tighter. "I will fix this, Katsumi."

"How?" I didn't mean to snap, it just kinda happened, "You're stuck here with your counsel, discussing politics while Chimitsu sits in some mountain somewhere _nearby_." His face doesn't change. But he looks somewhere behind me, thinking, plotting his way around our problem. You have to hand it to him; this demon does not give up!

"I will fix this," he says again. As if to reinstate it he turns me slightly to the side, my legs draped across his lap and my torso pressed into the mattress while his hovers above me. Our own little cocoon of fluff and softness spreads from his garment and his hand holds my face so I can't look away. Not really on my to-do list, I could probably lay here all day if there was any justice to the world.

Before I can dive deeper into that thought Sesshomaru is kissing me, slow and torturous. It's suddenly like _this_ was what I had been craving; _this_ was the balm to my agony. It's only habit that I freeze under him, only habit and not at gripping fear.

Of course he knows better. Sesshomaru pulls back to give me a scolding gaze. "You asked for this, Katsumi." Why is it that every time he says my name I get a ridiculous giddy sensation in the pit of my gut? "This is of your doing." I blush; as if he is some unwilling participant! But his eyes turn dark as his hand caresses my neck, down my shoulder, and settles on my hip. "Or is it that you forgot your proposition?"

If I could get away with it, I'd have hit him. Of course I didn't forget what I said yesterday – as if I _could_ forget what I offered him! It had been in the midst of excitement and hormones, but I remembered clearly what I wanted. There should be rules to these kinds of things. A manual for time traveling should offer the dangers of potential life-bonding bracelets, devastatingly beautiful demons, and above all there should be a whole chapter on how to _not_ fall in love with said demons.

"_We can pretend."_

I remember. And I remember his eager response, those words will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life – I'm dead sure of it.

"_While I have you, you are mine."_

I shivered underneath him just from the memory. I know demons are possessive. I know they take mating seriously. But we are both adults, well sort of, and it isn't like we can't say no later. I mean, we are going to have to say no eventually. I can't stay here. He can't come with me. There's a time limit and we both know it.

But that should make me want to take as much of what's left of your time together, right? It's only pretend, like the mate bond we have to fake to all the demons here. Get in, fake a bond, get out. Only now it's more like: get in, enjoy faking the bond, get out.

My hold tightens as I bring his face closer, "I don't forget things like making a deal with a demon." He seemed rather pleased with my response before I combed a hand through his hair and met him half-way for another slow kiss.

He kissed me like it was all he ever wanted to do. But at the same time, there were burst as if he thought there wasn't enough time, like he had to kiss me now or he'd lose me forever. Spurts of self-control, fleeing one second and grounded the next. Frenzied kisses on my neck, his hand on my hip clenched almost to the point of pain but not quite reaching there. If my cousin could see me now, she'd have a heart attack. Hell, if my mother could see me she'd probably think I'd been possessed. And I'm pretty sure my dad would execute me now ask questions later.

But they are not here. It is only Sesshomaru and I. Just as he said. He could show me what it would really be like to have him as my mate. He'd offer me a glimpse, a taste to satisfy our curiosity. Like a dream, we would wake up one day to reality with only this memory to keep us company.

_Are you really okay with a mere taste?_

Oh, look. My conscious showed up again. You were so quiet I thought you had gone mute.

_Don't be sarcastic; it's an easy question._

I don't have the right to answer it. Even if I wanted more of him, I can't have it. So I will settle with this. The hand on my hip slipped around my body, curved along my back to press me closer to him. I made something of a _mewling_ sound and Sesshomaru grinned against my neck. What's he doing to me now? I can't even control my own voice? I push at him, there is very little leverage on my end, but he amuses me, moving along with me until I get him on his back.

Seducing demons is not a skill set of mine. But he's a good sport about it, as if every little thing I do only attracts him more. I move against his toned body, settling between his missing arm and his hot torso – at least I won't ever feel cold with him. His eyes follow me as I lean over him, begin to kiss from his temple down to his neck. I remember the way he kissed me yesterday. He had been teaching me, giving me everything I needed for a future confrontation with him.

What better way to use my new found abilities than while I have him in bed with me? We could kiss and touch and there would be no consequences; we already decided. Little harm in sparring with a demon I thought so long ago in my aunt's backyard. What more could I do by kissing him? I got to the edge of his clothes, the silk a rough obstacle, I looked up from my barrier to gaze at Sesshomaru. He looked ready for murder. Not murder at me, or I would have turn-tail and run like hell – phantom fire or no. His gold eyes were ablaze, his whole body was stiff, his hand rolled up in a fist; one wrong move and he would have killed the first thing that _looked_ at him wrong.

Wow… I don't know why but the idea that I could do that to him sent a warm and fuzzy feeling into my bloodstream. And I grinned madly in response to it. "We should probably get ready for round two of your counsel. I'd probably miss a few marks if I kept you from your duties." With a playful shove I sprung from the bed, far from the pathetic mess I was before. Funny thing, I couldn't even remember what the pain had felt like now. I knew it had hurt, but the feeling of the pain was missing. Even after you break your arm and the bone is healed you still remember what it was like to feel the bone crack within you.

I was missing something really important here. But with Sesshomaru kinda-sorta pouting again I figured that could wait. "Hey," I called as he gracefully extracted himself from the sheets, "do you want to pick out my next _kimono_?" I _reallyreallyreallyreally_ hope that wasn't too forward or girly of me, but having Youkou pick out my next outfit felt weird. Even though her picks were spot on and won me great brownie points, she still looked like a fourteen year old kid.

Sesshomura gave me a smirk dipped in humor. "It would be highly improper of me to do something like that." I blushed but tried to hide it with a shrug. "However," I turned and watched him approach me, "I would have no qualms if it were to be our secret."

I grinned and shook my head, "What's one more?"

**ADatewithRevenge**

I was not glaring at the stone wall in front of me. It was merely a wall. An inanimate stone wall, no feelings, nothing worth warranting a glare from me. Inanimate objects a not worth glares. No. This wall was not the bane of my existence. It did not infiltrate my barriers. It did not put me in any compromising positions. It did not make me lose myself in a moment of heat and passion. It did not allure me with softness and compassion and darkness.

Katsumi, dressing on the other side of the wall however, she had done these things to me. _She _started this. _She _blew away my control. _She _infiltrated my barriers with silk and silver. This little warrior slaughtered a path straight to my core. _She _buried her way into my hidden domain and managed to unhinge my calm as if it were not bolted down. Katsumi unnerved me.

And I was beginning to enjoy it.

I pressed my hand to my brow. _What was I thinking?_ Pretending? Faking? Lying? Participating in this illusion, what had she done to me? Such behavior was beneath me. Not even in my most difficult years when I been a fledgling had I acted so…foolish. Mating was not some game. It was the most profound form of connection demons could ever hope to achieve with another being. My father had taught me that – even if he died before he could know of it. This _thing_ with Katsumi was not profound or special. This _imitation_ was cheap.

I growled in the empty hallway. No. Nothing about Katsumi was cheap. If I had an ounce of self-discipline I would have shoved her away. But to hell with self-control! Whenever this little human was around I felt the weight on my shoulders lifted, the constant hesitation of duty and etiquette fled, and I was left with only her – warm and alive. Strange, that I should feel this way with her and only realize I had yearned for such feelings when I first experience them.

Now that I had her there was little choice on my part to let her go.

_And yet you must._

She did not belong of this world – my world. She came from the other side of the well. As I continued to ponder about that the demonic jewelry began to almost vibrate with encouragement to my next line of thought. Ridiculous, of course, being an inanimate object it could do no such thing, but once I began thinking of it, the thought would not leave me.

_The girl with your brother is from there too._

Yes, and she had the uncanny ability to stay. I frowned at the stone floor. There was much between my brother and the girl I did not understand. Before that was of no concern to me, now however, I felt the need to figure every little detail of their relationship out. If that girl could stay with Inuyasha, why couldn't Katsumi stay with me?

I said I would show her what it would be like to be with me. If I could convince her to stay… I could. It wouldn't be too hard. With a touch she was melting before me. I could keep her here with me. Where she came from did not matter. I could keep Katsumi; it would only take a little effort on my part.

**ADatewithRevenge**

So apart from a small congratulation to Okunote on his promotion, I was sentenced to silence as the counsel began its convening. Overall, I drowned out most of the fancy speech. Kinaga sucking up to the new lord so she could start using his coast for shipping; Tousia's mate prattling about some kind of unjust Sesshomaru owed her – probably from taking away the little lake demon yesterday; the South's general started a heated debate with the North's general about certain defenses and the lack-there-of in the North due to some ice melting – that one didn't really mean a heck of a lot to me; trading routes; human relationships and interactions and uprisings; the appointment of Okunote's general – a nasty looking troll with tusks protruding from his lower jaw and an even nastier scar bisecting his left eye.

The chatter and prattle and scorn continued well past noon. I felt the queasiness I always felt when locked in a room full of demons and not killing any of them. My palms itched. The pale lavender _kimono_ Sesshomaru picked out for today was loose and comfortable; making stashing weapons quite simple, the intricate detail along the edges of the fabric reminded me of the little bunches of flowers hydrangeas were found in. Only the cluster of flowers seemed to be blown away by a gust of wind, scattering around my _kimono._

I busied myself with the thread, following the flowers, wondering if they could take me somewhere a whole lot less boring – and at the same time unnerving – than where I was now.

"Would you like to join us, Lady Katsumi?" I flinched inwardly. Kinaga had just asked me to join her to do something. Was that something going to kill me? Was she going to show me where her secret stash of kittens was so she could feast on them in front of me?

"I would be delighted," I smiled. If I said no, I'd have to sit here some more with Sesshomaru ignoring me and the South's general eyeing me like a slab of meat. I'm out!

"Wonderful!" the Southern Lady exclaimed.

We walked, and walked, and walked. I don't watch too much TV, but I did see _Pride and Prejudice_ a time or two – or twelve. Mr. Darcy is attractive in his stumbling, stubborn way. If I had cared more about human interaction more so than demon execution I would have daydreamed a time or two – or twelve – about meeting a Mr. Darcy myself. Remember that scene, when Elizabeth is visiting her poor, sick sister at the Bingley's vacation home? That scene when Elizabeth is reading quietly, minding her own business and then Caroline swoops in as vultures do and asks her to go for a walk, and they walk around the room making fun of Mr. Darcy as they do it?

I'm Elizabeth, Kinaga hanging on my arm, parading me around the outer grounds of the castle as she speaks nonsense that could be jabs at me, Sesshomaru, her husband, or the world in general. It feels terribly strange, to have a she-demon wrap her arm around mine and stroll with her to discuss nothing in particular. Actually, all I could think about was if Caroline ever turned on Elizabeth and ripped out her throat with her bare hands. That, and I was pretty sure Kinaga could feel the hidden blades on my wrist.

At least the constant glittering dust from her markings wasn't toxic or flammable or anything. Maybe they're for decoration.

"You must find us quite strange my dear." Kinaga bared her smile like a weapon, missing eye-teeth and all. "What are the demons like in your country?"

I smiled just as pleasantly, "Where I come from it is better for demons to look as human as possible than to stand out."

The North Lord's mate snorted from behind us. "_That_ hardly seems plausible."

Kinaga turned ever-so-slightly to sneer at her, "Do not be unkind Hageshii." Her words tumbled on the poison the Lord added. Hageshii did not lose her footing; apparently she was use to Kinaga's temperamental attitude. I was thankful in a small part to have the North she-demon behind me, with all that glowing I'd get a headache if I had to stare at her for long periods of time.

"I merely meant that as strange as it must be for her to be around us, it is even stranger for us..." _to be around her_. Go ahead, finish it. Let's see how _you_ react to silver!

"I bet." I said as I wished the North lady was in front of us and not behind now. "I must be a real oddity here."

"Do not think so highly of yourself." Hageshii snapped, like a parent scolding an unruly child. "There are plenty of demon hunters who can kill something like Tayorinai." I frowned at that. I did not like the late Lord, but to belittle her so was mildly upsetting. She had been a fierce opponent, as a fellow warrior there was honor to be said there.

In that moment I did not like the shiny demon with the catty attitude. And I doubted I ever would.

Kinaga scoffed at the tension, as she was wont to do, "We are not here for a pissing match." She smiled again at me as if she were to have her dessert before dinner. "Tell me more about your country Katsumi – is it alright if I call you that?"

I shrugged, "Call me what you like, Kinaga." She beamed at that, a smile that was closed-lip but soft and her eyes sparkled like the flaming dust that floated about her. "There is no demon counsel where I come from." Both she-demons gasped at that. "The humans rule, they make the laws and they appoint represents for different regions." It was like a demonic House of Representatives. Only, there were no demons involved at all.

"Humans making decisions for demons?" Hageshii sounded disgusted and outraged.

"Demons have a history – where I come from – of dictating and terrorizing humans. To avoid a repeat-"

"You force demons to behave like humans and strip away their voice? Do the clans even allow this?" the North lady was close to spitting now.

I frowned; it had made perfect sense when Mother explained it to me. Demons were dangerous. Half the things they were atoning for hadn't even happened yet in this era! Of course they wouldn't understand. Demons were power hungry, take that away and they're starving for revenge. There were no clans. No way for the demons to ban together, whether with one race or another, they were divided into regions and even then they had little involvement with each other.

"You asked," I said. Kinaga whipped her head around so fast I thought I saw it spin.

"It seems the Lady does not wish to discuss her homeland anymore," The North general looked bored and out of place among us "ladies" in our silk and color while she wore her leather armor. I eyed her, she walked behind and to the left of Hageshii, long and lithe, but there was tension coiled in her muscles, ready to spring should the need arise. Her long, curly purple hunk of a braid hardly fluttered in the light breeze her violet, inked eyes glittered in the sun as her gaze caught mine.

I turned back, what was with demons and hair anyway? I still had the bandages wrapped around my hand and it throbbed as I recalled the likeness of a paper shredder to Tayorinai's hair.

Several of the north she-demon's ladies-in-waiting giggled and began a chorus of whispering behind my back, my literal back. I glanced at Youkou, my own lady-in-waiting, and she grinned sheepishly at me. Sesshomaru was looking out for me every which way.

"Oh look! Something wicked this way comes!" Kinaga called out to the herd of demons heading our way. I had hoped they weren't, but I watched them ever since I noticed them. And they most definitely were coming toward us.

From afar they were a water-color painting of red, white, browns, and greens. As they came closer different breeds became distinct. There were three of them, each standing next to the other without touching, without mingling, but standing together as if with a common purpose. I groaned inside; please, oh please, don't let them be here to kill me!

Kinaga pulled me slightly in front of her and the demons. Odd, was she going to use me as a shield or just offer me up as payment for her life? My nerves were too tired to care anymore. A brush with the silver at my wrists made me remember myself of course. I was in demon country. Best I do not let my guard down when there are demons to my front and to my back. Times like these make me wish I could just crawl back into bed, with Sesshomaru right behind.

"Greetings, Lady Katsumi," A demon stood in front of the rest, he wasn't nearly as pale as some of the demons I'd met, with a healthy dose of pink in his skin tone, with bright, piercing eyes and white hair that flared down pass his shoulders. He bowed low taking his eyes off me to do so. I froze. What the heck was happening?!

"It was an unfortunate event that prevented us from greeting you properly." I nodded but inside I was screaming. Every demon – and there seemed to be a great deal more than I thought – was staring at me. Complete and utter focus. Swallowing something hard I waited.

"I am Sasuga, of the Fox Clan," the demon flourished again. I thought back to the little demon Kagome kept on her shoulder, he didn't look anything like this fox demons. His hair was pure white – like cotton sheets or bleach _white_. It was layered, floating in the breeze, the thin tips falling to the middle of his chest. His red and dark chocolate brown _kimono_ hung loose on his shoulders, expensive but he didn't care. His eyes were a blue so bright they almost matched his hair.

They were the kind of eyes to follow you into a nightmare, this demon's eyes. His eyelashes and eyebrows were also white, and there was a barely detectable scar on the corner of his mouth almost gracing his chin but not quite. He was taller than Sesshomaru so I had to seriously crank my neck back to meet his gaze, and built like he could take down _anybody_, a martial artist. My back hurt from the strain of my muscles.

How much you want to bet I die today?

"Well met, Sasuga." He changed as I spoke to him, as if he were expecting some sort of punishment and relieved it didn't come. Why would he fear me?

"Please permit me to introduce to you my mate," he bowed again, all the way, eyes to the ground. With a smile I granted the simple request.

Hageshii gave a sniff of dislike, "Must we stand here while you meet your subjects?" I flinched at the word, but inwardly so no one would notice. I have subjects?!

_You are Sesshomaru's _mate!_ He is a _Lord! _What would make you think you _wouldn't _have subjects. _

Shut up conscious, no one was asking you!

"You do not have to stay." I all but snarled at her. She sniffed again muttered something under her breath to her ladies and trotted off as they giggled like the gaggle of hyenas they were. With great interest all the demons who came to greet me watched Hageshii with similar distaste. At least I wasn't alone.

The she-demon Sasuga brought forth was lovely. But more so than any other demon so far. I wasn't sure what it was quite yet. Her eyebrows, eyelashes and hair was like fresh snow and flowed down her back and chest to her elbows, curling at the ends, half of it pulled into an intricate bun on top of her head. Her eyes were a blue so deep they appeared black, if the sun hadn't caught them just right I would have missed the color. Her nose was small, slightly pointy and upturned. Furred fox ears poke out where human ears would have been, matching her hair color.

Full lips curved into a gracious smile that did not set any of my nerves on edge. Her _kimono_ was of pale greens, soft lavender, and creamy blues. It also hung low on her shoulders, although there were more decorations and adornments on hers than her mate's. Her long hair was festooned with two elaborate pins, a collection of flowers of matching colors to her attire and a string of glittering jade beads draped down from one of the pins to grace her shoulder.

I'm not a fan of jewelry, as my past probably indicates, but I loved this she-demon's pins with an unreasonable amount of girlish fashion.

"Hello, my Lady," the she-demon bowed, lower than her mate, with her eyes on the ground as well. What was going on here?! Demons to show submission to a human, like ever! What was this? "I am Kowaku, it is wonderful to finally greet you properly." And she sounded like she meant every word. Weird, demons are not usually _glad_ to meet me. A breath of fresh air, sure, but it left a foul taste in the back of my throat.

As I greeted Kowaku I realized she was holding something. Something small and delicate, wrapped up in a matching cloth to Kowaku's _kimono_. My stomach filled with ice as I speculated what the she-demon held, and where the different manner I held this she-demon to.

"This is our son," Sasuga answered my dreaded curiosity. He took the wrapped thing from Kowaku who did not protest and took a step closer to show me the little pink face peeking out from the swaddling.

Its face was humanish. Warm, honey eyes blinked up at its father as its chubby arms were brought to its chest, its chubby, little hands bent at the wrist in a cute, almost kitten-like fashion. Its nose was small, like its mother's. Its ears were small, furry, cute things poking out of the side of its head. Brown hair, like caramel candy dusted its head, just a scrap of fur.

I blinked. Then I blinked again. A baby demon, looking as soft and vulnerable as my kitten had when I first found him. Something inside my chest broke. It was sudden and caught me completely off guard. I gasped at the little thing… the little boy. He cooed at his father and that thing that broke, it spilled something warm into my bloodstream. I wanted to hold that baby demon. I wanted to coo at it and cuddle it and…and…

And the warmth that spilled from whatever broke inside me made me want to cry.

Kowaku seemed to catch something in my face. She put a hand on her husband's shoulder and they both took a step forward. "We would be honored…my Lady, if you would bless our son."

I flinched slightly, pulled away from Kinaga and stared in shock at the fox demons. "Why?" I blurted before I could stop myself.

But the she-demon only smiled, "It is customary for the Lord and Lady of the Land to bless the Clans' next heir."

"Sesshomaru hasn't blessed him yet?" As soon as the words left my mouth I realized he hadn't. I couldn't see Sesshomaru socializing with foxes. The thought almost made me sad. If it was customary, why didn't he do it?

Sasuga answered, quiet and controlled anger boiled under his words. "Our Lord has had his hands full." Okaaay… so there is some bad blood between Sesshomaru and his subjects… Great!

I stood straighter, still hopelessly small compared to the fox clan, tall and gorgeous, the leaders white hair blinding in the sun. I held my arms out to the little buddle and smiled, trying to convince myself I knew what I was doing.

When the boy looked up at me, he blinked in innocent curiosity. His little chubby cheeks twitching as if thinking about whether to smiling or not. I looked up at the pair, "I've never blessed an heir before, what is customary that I say?"

Kinaga was the one to answer, "You bestow the child with your hope that he will be a good leader, or a kind soul, or live a long life." She shrugged and smiled, soft and kind, almost reassuring me.

_I just don't want to drop him…_

I nodded and I played with his small hand of a moment, stalling, when he latched on with an iron gripped I was shocked. _He's so strong_. Then the baby giggled and I felt something move in the cloth at his back…his tail…I think. _He's sweet._

"What's his name?" Sasuga and Kowaku both blinked in surprise.

"You are supposed to name him," Kinaga said. "It's part of blessing him. _You _give him a name that will guide him through life."

I gulped and hoped no one heard me. _I _had to name him? _ME?_ That sounded like such faulty logic. I inhaled sharply and stared at the baby. _What should I name you_..?

"Kashikoi" I said and the baby smiled at me for a second before he stared at my hair and something above my head. "May you be clever, but may you also be wise. Learn from your mistake and become the leader others will be proud to serve."

I glanced at Kinaga, she nodded. Good, I didn't screw up. That's nice. When I looked back at Kashikoi's parents they looked about ready to burst with happiness. I held the baby out and Kowaku took him, beaming from furry ear to ear.

Sasuga bowed deeply, reverently, again. "Thank you for your blessing, my Lady." The two fox demons turned back to the others with them and began showing the baby off to them as if he were just born. They cooed and awed and praised the boy.

As they did so another pair of demons from the next clan came before me. They looked human-enough, from their hair to their waist. But their form from there down was the body of a stag – not centaurs then, half-men/half-horse. Lean and graceful, both bowed low in front of me, one of their front legs bending till they touched the grass, with hooves the size of dinner plates. Their chins touching their necks as they cast their eyes to my feet.

"Our Lady Katsumi, we of the western plains have come to honor you." The male on the right said. He was wide, buff, a solid brick wall of muscle. His muscles had muscles. He could probably crush me with his pinky if he wanted to. The she-demon next to him was just as strong, muscular, and yet graceful at the same time. A pair of long wicked horns adorned the top of their heads, the demon's were larger and the she-demon's were thinner, but other than that they looked the same.

Usually in the animal kingdom, the females do not have horns…but I guess the same rules do not apply to the demon kingdom.

The color of the horns changed with the demons' hair/pelt color, some had red hair on their head and on their lower body, others light brown, others a mixture of white and dark brown. The two before me had black hair shining beautifully in the sunlight. Their horns just as black looked ridged, but the longer I looked, I realized their horns spiraled like a unicorns… huh…

Their features seemed harsher than other demons, ready for war. It was a different kind of beauty in their harsh features. Their stances indicated a proud and strong race.

"Please, stand." I said nervously wishing Sesshomaru would get his ass out here and do his job. I did not want all this attention. I despised it. So for the moment, I despised Sesshomaru.

The two stood, as if waiting for me to tell them too. "I am Setsuzentaru, and this is my twin sister," he indicated to the she-demon.

"Itazura," she finished. "It is a great honor to meet you, my Lady." Would it be terribly wrong if I asked them to call me Katsumi? Youkou's terrified face reminded me that would probably not work out.

Speaking of Youkou, the little lake demon had not left my side at all. In fact she seemed stunned silent by the multitude of demons in front of her, as if she had never seen them before.

"Thank you, Setsuzentaru, Itazura," I nodded to each sibling. "You are from the plains?"

Itazura nodded, "We understand our Lord's mate is not from this country," for some reason I wondered if some demons were going to resent me for that. "We are the Plains Clan, One of the Three Clan families that honor the Lord of the West."

Setsuzentaru continued, "We protect the border between the Eastern Lands and our home." The demons made numerous sounds of approval. Warriors, honorable folk, take their job seriously. My kind of people – er – demons.

"Then my mate owes you much gratitude." I smiled at the twins, they seemed taken slightly aback by my words and I feared I said something stupid again.

"You are…very welcome…my Lady," the sister said. Had Sesshomaru never said thank you to the demons protecting his boarders? What is wrong with this guy? "Should you find yourself in the Plains you shall not be left without care."

The demons bowed again. Bending their front leg to the ground, head hunched down, for a moment before they stood back with their kind.

So Sesshomaru doesn't acknowledge his subjects, embracing tradition, and he doesn't encourage their role in keeping his world safe. What happened to this guy to become such a self-centered ruler? He was beginning to piss me off.

The last group was a mess of greens, grays, and browns. They wore moss in their wardrobe, melting demon and nature into one. A woman step forward, her eyes were closed as she held her hand out in my direction. _She's blind_…I stared for a moment before Kinaga scoffed and pulled my arm out and placed my hand in the she-demons.

She smiled, as if sighing with relief. Were they really afraid of me? She brought my hand up and sniffed the inside of my wrist. "Do not be alarmed, my Lady, I am committing your scent to my vocabulary so that I may remember you next time we meet." After another whiff, the she-demon dropped my hand and knelt down to the ground. Not a bow, I think she meant to kneel during our conversation.

I looked up at the other demons that looked like this one to see if someone would pick her up, and I realized all of these demons kept their eyes close and their heads bowed. What…?

"I am Tanshin, Head of the Swamp Clans. Please, forgive us, we are from a place of near darkness and the bright sun here hurts our eyes." I shook my head, forgive a demon…? What…Is this the Twilight Zone or something?

Her hair was like moss, a grayish-green, mixed with actual moss, piled on top of her head as if it were a fashion statement. She was small, smaller kneeling as she was. But it was a relief to find a demon shorter than me. That made three, Youkou, Kinaga and now Tanshin.

Even as she was, there was a regality to the swamp she-demon. Royal, proper, almost rigid in nobility oozed out of every part of her body. It was a bit intimidating. Her skin was light green, without looking like she was going to be ill and covered with dark green tattoos. They were of birds, dragonflies, crabs, fish, shrimp, and monkeys, of those I could see it appeared as if her tattoos were of the animals in her home. Her clothes seemed to be made up of the swamp she ruled over. Moss, grass, even mud interspersed with silk and other fabrics. I notice she was barefoot, too.

I greeted Tanshin, wishing she would stand before me instead, like the other clan leaders had.

"It is nice to know Sesshomaru is not entirely cold-hearted," the swamp she-demon smiled as if she told a joke. The Plains Clan stamped nervously at her words and the foxes stopped praising little Kashikoi to eye her.

"What makes you say that?" I tried to lighten the mood.

She grinned at the edges of my _kimono_, "Because he has finally chosen to trust again." Her words pained me. What _happened_ to Sesshomaru? "It is with a fresh breath I look upon you my Lady, forgive my play with words. You have brought a side of our Lord to light. A side many of us have not seen in a long time, and many of us have never seen before."

I pondered that, logged it away for later use.

"I did not mean to upset you, my Lady. I have a habit of speaking my mind, and it has gotten me into trouble a time or two."

"I suppose I can relate to that."

She smiled further, "Yes, we have heard how you won our Lord over." I cocked an eyebrow at her. It had been about mercy and intrigue that brought us to mate…never anything I said…At least, that was what we told everyone. What did Tanshin mean? Did she know about my Influence? No, no she couldn't…Right?

"Quite a story," she exclaimed her smile growing again. This she-demon knew _much, much_ more than she was letting on.

I didn't like it.

There was a sudden shift in the temperature, and I don't mean metaphorically, the air just got damned cold. Kinaga cursed as demons surrounded me and my subjects. They were an ugly bunch. Trolls, ogres, the kind of creatures you'd find under a rock, scaly, gross, bulky, and kinda dumb, they carried axes, spears, buglers with spikes, maces; mostly the horde protruded tusks, fangs, horns, and claws.

The multitude of colors gave me a headache, all made worse by the scraps of cloth every single one tied somewhere on their body: they were of the same color as Tayorinai's hair, that bright fuchsia, pink color that made my hand throb in memories.

"Human!" One particular nasty snarled, his voice booming in the clearing, it made the others restless and bloodthirsty. "We have come for your head, just as you claimed the head of our beloved Lord!"

Oh, a demon bent on revenge for another demon I killed. Sounds like home.

**Aha! After so long I have finally updated. As stated at the beginning, school sucks. I've been swamped in books and papers. It's exhausting. But I, at the very least, managed to finish chapter 16, and I have the next two chapter planned and organized on paper. So maybe it shouldn't be too long before you get 17 and 18. Maybe? **

**How am I doing so far? I know the chapters are long, and there's a lot I'm giving y'all, but I just want to be sure the story is still interesting. That you're not bored or anything. **

**What do you think of my Clans? Pretty bad-ass, huh? I like them, anyway. **

**So tell me what you think? If you're pissed at the late update, you can vent, it's ok. I probably deserve it. But please tell me what you like about my story. Tell me why you're favoriting and alerting and all that jazz! I WANT TO KNOW!**


	17. Sesshomaru's Plan

**Alrighty then, this little baby is dedicated to a couple of fans who are worth mentioning:**

Dontgotaclue88: **So glad you like them apples ^_^**

Sushii-Kun: ** Your review for chapter 15 meant a lot to me. It's wonderful to hear how Katsumi gets along with my readers **

my-forgotten-rose: **Sometimes I think some authors are too wordy in their descriptive techniques. Some can spend two whole pages portraying a tree, and I'm like **_**do we really need that much on the friggen tree?**_** When you told me how clear I was coming across in my writing – bringing my imagination to you – I felt a serious weight lifted. Thank you so much for the review. **

SweetXWhisper**: You are super-cool, you know that right? Please don't be upset if your cyber stalking doesn't amount to much. Papers at every turn, a research paper in my review mirror, book reviews cutting me off – my school-life is a traffic nightmare. Anyway, your review made me smile so I had to offer up a shout-out to you. **

**Now on with the show!**

Sesshomaru's Plan

_There was a sudden shift in the temperature, and I don't mean metaphorically, the air just got damned cold. Kinaga cursed as demons surrounded her, my subjects and myself. They were an ugly bunch. Trolls, ogres, the kind of creatures you'd find under a rock, scaly, gross, bulky, and kinda dumb. They carried axes, spears, buglers with spikes, maces; mostly the horde protruded tusks, fangs, horns, and claws. _

_The multitude of colors gave me a headache, all made worse by the scraps of cloth every single one tied somewhere on their body: they were of the same color as Tayorinai's hair, that bright fuchsia, pink color that made my hand throb in memories. _

"_Human!" One particular nasty snarled, his voice booming in the clearing, it made the others restless and bloodthirsty. "We have come for your head, just as you claimed the head of our beloved Lord!" _

_Oh, a demon bent on revenge for another demon I killed. Sounds like home._

It isn't every day I find myself on the receiving end of some clans respecting me, but _this_, oh, this I get. This I practically welcome with open arms. Now, I know what you're thinking: "_Katsumi! How could you actually _want_ to fight demons?"_ Well, I'll tell you, I don't know.

No, that's not true. _It's all I know_. I've been training since I was nine. And before that, well, there really isn't much to go on from before that. Believe me when I say, I don't know any other life. My parents are Executioners. The half-breeds I spend time with are Executioners. The only other humans I have contact with are Executioners. I'm an Executioner.

I never played with dolls or legos. I didn't watch Saturday morning cartoons. I never joined a sports team, never went to a football game, never had a boyfriend, never went to the movies with friends, never spent the night with girlfriends watching Disney movies right after a slasher thriller.

I've never been a normal human girl all my life.

So when I say I welcomed the horde of barbaric monsters a child's nightmare would flee from, I want you to know where I'm coming from.

The big guy, the one who unleashed war charged first, and I dive away, tuck into a roll, jump to my feet and have my silver singing by the time he should have stopped. And he's stopped alright, stopped dead. I slashed a wide gaping hole in his stomach. With a savage growl he hits the ground hard enough to cause a mild earthquake. His death didn't damper their resolve. The other demons come at me with everything they've got, and since there's about too-many-to-count of them and one of me, that's a whole heck of a lot.

Suddenly there's a roaring in my ears, like a great wave hitting a shore. I turn in stunned silence as the Plains Clan trampled through the mass of demons, each wielding their weapons of war, as the twins let loose a cry so terrible the wind trembles from it. Then they hack and slash and maim and there's no stopping them. To my left an ear-splitting screech fills the air as Tanshin of the Swamp Clan hacks her prey to slinters with a wicked and heavy double-sided axe. I gap at the little she-demon, her eyes are open now, and they are the reddest eyes I have ever seen. The others of her clan seem to melt into the grass, a small lump of shadow skirts through the battlefield and before the troll has a second to realize he has three-too-many shadows, the swamp clan springs from the earth and embeds their heavy weapons into flesh and bone.

Kinaga rushes forward to meet the monsters head on. Unafraid, unhindered, undeterred by the fact that they have come for _me_. Her dust scatters about her and the demons close to her that come into contact with it scream in agony as their flesh burns away. It is not pleasant or quick, but Kinaga seems to be enjoying herself.

Blood paints across the grass, guts and entrails and something that might be brain matter splatter like grotesque puddles. My stomach protests. But I stamp the queasiness down. With a flourish I stand at the ready for two ogres as they barrel their way to me. Like battering rams they plow down everything in their path, heads down. _Thump, thump, thump, _as they build up speed. Right in time with my heart rate.

At the last second I duck and slice through an entire tree stump of a leg. One ogre down. The other turns out of control, kicking up dirt and mud and the mess of its brothers as it tries to train its sights on me.

Just as he finds me, one of my throwing knives finds him. Right between the eyes.

Something warm and fuzzy unfurls inside me like a waking cat. The feeling stretches and yawns and peers about in satisfaction, like it has been _waiting_ for this. But I don't have time to think about it because another demon comes at me in the next second; his fingers are nothing but six inch spikes. Twisting and turning and dodging are all I can do. His face is a mask of rage and resentment; his yellow eyes are like slits as he snarls and hisses and curses, spit flying. I get close enough to slam my elbow into his gut, and it hurts. But he stumbles back –in shock than in pain, I bet – and I have some breathing room, enough to stab him in the neck.

His shriek is shriveled, garbled, stumbling on the silver lodged in his throat. When I yank my blade out it only seems to have maddened him more as I smear the scene around us in an arch of red paint. So, he's not going to dissolve into dust or melt from acid? Peachy, just peachy. The spikes slash and swipe, I duck and hold his left hand off with a dueling blade as I drop the other in favor of seizing his wrist and snap bones.

We both stare at his disfigured limb for a full three seconds, an eerie silence suffocating us – _Since when can I break a demon's arm with just one hand?_ – before he backhands me, sending me flying right into another demon, big and ugly and purple. My whole left side will probably be bruised by the end of this and my face is stinging from the points of his spikes. At least I gave one of the fox demons a chance to use his conjured knife set – about ten from what I could count – to impale the purple troll. It is raining blood now; the bluish ooze stains my skin. Small blessing that it's odorless.

I jump to my feet when Mr. Claws comes at me, pouncing like a deranged cat. He hits the ground I was moments ago as I roll away and I swing with all my might, using both arms, putting my back into it. When I open my eyes, the demon's cut in two. A clean cut right below his heart. The demon stares at me with glassy eyes, mouth hanging open, probably looking as shocked as I feel.

_And since when can I slice them through? _

The neck was all tendons and muscle. Sure, it was tough, but not impossible for a decapitation – especially with skill and practice. But through the chest? With ribs, spine, and thicker muscle and organs, I couldn't do something like that on my best days. And yet… Mr. Claws looked like he lay on the wrong side of a cutting board.

My stomach was churning again.

But that wasn't all I was feeling.

Among the blood and horror of death my body felt alive, vibrant. I moved quicker, flowed across the grass as if in water, but without the resistance. It was amazing and thrilling. In all my years of killing demons, I _never_ felt like this before. It was _natural_. _Easy. Like Breathing._

I cut the arm off of one demon to turn and kick another with my dragon boots, and twirled the knife at the last second to slay the first demon without looking behind me. With him dead I pulled the knife out and using both hands plunged it deep into the throat of the second. Even the scents stopped bothering me. It was all about the fight, the exhilaration of skipping past death only to execute it myself. The arteries severed, more bluish blood sprayed like a possessed fountain. It's raining again.

It wasn't until I heard the scream that I realized I wanted to…_laugh_…

The kill was too wonderful, the death to alluring. Hell, ten minutes ago I'd have never used those words to describe my profession! I could _taste_ the exhilaration in the back of my mouth, something sweet and tantalizing, achingly real. I've tasted this before. Somewhere in the farthest depths of my mind I _know_ this feeling. It's like welcoming an old friend or embracing a lost loved one. Comforting. Reassuring. Almost Soothing. And I can feel the grin plastered to my face, teeth bare and eyes bright.

It isn't like back home. It's more than the job, more than something my parents trained me to do. It's more than protecting humanity and putting demons in their place. This is where I belong: drenched in blood, surrounded by the mutilated corpses I created, heart pounding, chest aching, sliver gripped tightly in my hand, the sound of anguish and hopelessness in my enemy. All of it is me. Without it I am nothing.

I flinch from the thought, from the sweetness in my mouth and the smile painted on my face, and turn toward the scream that broke the spell. Kowaku is huddled over her bundle of Kashikoi as her mate, Sasuga struggles with four demons to reach her. Some kind of troll with four arms has the fox demon mother pinned with a foot on her stomach as she does what she can to keep her baby safe. The troll pushes her farther into the dirt, another cry bursting from her throat in agony mingled with the snarling chuckle of her tormenter. Little Kashikoi cries along with her.

It's like something broke inside me. Maybe it isn't something bad, but I think it started before, when the warm feeling awoke. It's like a dam breaking, the water kept at bay by it flushing out and filling a void it filled long ago. My blades are in the demon's back before I even know what's going on. Its laugh cut off, not even fizzling out, simply silenced. I'm too fast, but that's worth thinking about later, _much_ later. With a yank I realize my weapons have sunk to the hilt in muscle and bone. More unsettling thoughts spring to mind as I let them go, and duck out from the four hands trying to seize me.

Relentless monstrosities that they are; the four-armed troll comes for me while another grotesque abomination pounces on Kowaku. Its body bony and sharp and disfigured, its tongue slithers out like a snake, long and wiggling. Sasuga cries out in frustration. The baby just cries. Kowaku's eyes plead for a savoir.

And the rushing tidal wave the dam let loose cannot be held back again.

"**Stop!**" It's sharper, clearer, and more powerful than ever before as the word echoes across the battlefield. I don't think I've ever tried to Influence so many demons at once time, and I'm trying to focus only on the ones trying to kill me. "**Your challenge is with me! Leave the others be and come at me!**"

I trigger my hidden blades at my wrists, sliver plays a monotonous melody as it slides out from my ruined _kimono_. In two swift moves the troll and the golem hanging over Kowaku fall to the earth, their bodies already stiff and cold. Open and gapping wounds pierce their skulls, one for each of them. The rest, their fifty set of eyes trained on me, drop the demons in their grasps or shove them away like unwanted toys.

It's like someone turned on a light switch: _Flick_! And now you're dead.

My subjects make some kind of plead. Some call out in outrage while others stare in mortified shock at the turn of events. This battle has gone on long enough. They come at me like one entity. The multitude of monsters and nightmares build up speed, a slow trot morphing into a frenzy gallop, the earth protesting to their stampede. It will be a quick fight. Better than seeing a babe trampled on; better than having a husband watch his wife being eaten alive; better than seeing the small swamp demons crushed like grapes and hearing the bones of the hybrid stags break and snap as their battle cries dwindle.

"**Come on! Seek your vengeance here, with me!**" My voice rings over the raging mob, echoing across the gore. This is right. This is how it should be. All my life, this is what I have amounted to.

One final battle, to keep these demons safe.

Even as I resolve to the strange ultimatum, my heart still races in fear. Executioners don't typically have long lives, but I really didn't think I would die so young.

Sesshomaru…I was going to have to leave him one way or another.

And just as I bring my elbows up to fend off as many as I could, a glowing whip slashes across the horde, effortlessly hacking demons to bit-size pieces. It curves in a wide arch, with a life of its own as it slices through the thick hide of demons and the monsters cry out a second – whether it is in pain or shock the sound it cut off before I can tell – before they dissolve. I mean, _dissolve._ Like _poof_! Like, where-the-hell-did-they-go kind of stuff. There is no gore left behind from the whip.

My legs give out as the glowing whip gracefully carves a path through the demons. After the first twenty are annihilate the rest suddenly get it into their heads they shouldn't stick around. They flee, howling in defeat. As shattered as I feel, I still want to go after them. The rush of freedom from the battle still whispers sweetly to me and I don't want it to leave.

But I don't have to worry. A storm of power cuts across the field, tearing up the grass and earth as it follows the cowards and they extinguish the same as their brothers. As the power dissipates, the wind settles, and the pounding in my head stops I finally focus on Sesshomaru as he strides toward me. He sheaths one of his _katanas_ as he approaches, eyes like molten lava, a sneer ruining his perfect features, a heavy fang hanging over his lower lip.

I freeze at the sight of him. His markings seem darker, his skin paler, his hair wild as the wind whirls about him. The scent of sulfur and ash clings to the air from the burnt path his power wrought. My heart scuttles about in fear. My legs, useless that they are, shake noticeably. I can't move, can't breathe. He is terrifying in his slow, even strides.

He is the most frightening creature I have ever known!

And I can't bring myself to run this time because he saved my life.

That, and my legs are probably filled with jelly, or I broke them when I was thrown into that demon.

My body is infected with trembles, from my hands to my feet. I can't control myself. I'm cold but feverish, sweat making my hair stick to skin, or that could be congealing blood. I can't remember how to release my wrist blade to put them away. I can't remember how to pick myself off the floor.

Before I burst into tears, Sesshomaru is there. He gathers me up in his arms – one hand pressed tensely to my side as the other just pins me to him – without a word. As dreadful as he appeared, his strength was soft and strong, secure as he held me. We don't move for a long time. If I bring my arms around his neck I might hurt him. It isn't until my body finally stops shaking then Sesshomaru releases a breath into my hair. His nose strokes the skin there, might be the only place not painted with gore.

He pulls away another long breath later, his clear eyes seeking mine.

My voice is painfully small, my throat hurts as I hold my arms slightly out, "Help me get these off." He complies without words, nearly ripping the leather straps to pieces. They'll live another day, though. I spring with all the tension I have left in me as my arms wrap around his neck, over his hair, capturing him. Without meaning to I curl into a ball at his chest. Breathing hurts, the sound of it is shaky, fragile, and weak. But I can't bring myself to care.

Now I can smell everything.

"Take me away from here…" I whisper the words into his armor, so quiet I can't even hear it. Did I think them?

Sesshomaru stands.

But before we can move there's a frantic sound, a woman, she's asking for something. But the words are rushed together, jumbled like that stupid game I can never win. The one where you have six letters and you have to make as many words out of the letters as possible. If you use all six you're the winner. I never was good with word games. Ironic, isn't it? What with my ability and all?

Sesshomaru's mouth brushes against my jaw, tracing it to my ear. "Katsumi," the words are careful and tender, as if he is afraid merely speaking to me will hurt. Maybe it will. I look at him. "Kowaku wants to make sure you are alright."

Alright? _Alright!? _No! I am not "_alright_!" I don't think I will ever be "_alright_" again! The _sweetness_, the _allure_, the _poison_ of the battle has changed me.

I believe something is desperately wrong with me.

But as I look into Sesshomaru's eyes, perhaps right now, I can be alright. For him. For Kowaku. For little Kashikoi. For all the demons who stood next to me on the battlefield. For now I can be alright.

I look down at the fox she-demon. Her blue eyes wide, her lip pressed closed as she clings to her baby like a life line with both hands as her mate holds her upright with his. The others are staring at me with similar concern and fear and exhaustion. Not battle weary so much as waiting for someone to get out of the emergency room after an operation. _Waiting_ is exhausting.

Tanshin has her red eyes open; they are sharp as she watches me, as if I breathe wrong and she will be there to correct it. Her axe is missing. And she has a head wound. Blood too dark to be red trickles down from her hairline and trails a narrow river down her small face.

The twins are speckled with cuts, like they got into a fight with a thousand angry kittens. Each cut bleeds a thin stream of pink liquid. It stains their fur on their legs and back. One of Setsuzentaru's front legs is bent at a strange angle that gives me a headache the longer I look at it.

I tear my eyes away from the many that stand before me. Each one stands at attention as they wait for a conformation from me.

"I am alright. Thank you for all that you did." I push with effort to make myself clear to all of them. But the words sound rough and my throat is painfully sore. At the softening of their expressions, I take it they heard me all the same. My grip on Sesshomaru tightens.

He shares a few words with Sasuga and Kowaku. Turns to the left and says something to a few others. Finally, _finally_ he stalks off, away from the battle scene.

**Sesshomaru'sPlan**

From the shadows, a figure stands among the tress and shade of the forest. An eye in the center of its forehead, placed slightly above its original pair, watches the Western Lord carry his mate off the battlefield. The eye blinks before closing as if to sleep. The original pair of eyes open, a pair of eyes stretched at the corners, the whites blackened with ash, stained with a center of bright green and gold. A hood of rich fabric hides the demon from the prying eyes of nature as she turns further into the forest.

A curious melody rises and falls from her soft lips. The words are of a language long since pass but the tempo is easy and the harmony is sweet. Where the demon steps flowers bloom from the forest floor, where her hands brush on the tree trunks mushrooms and fungi flourish, and as her voice carries into the air birds and furry creatures freeze in their mundane life to stop and follow the arresting sound.

But the farther she goes, the darker her voice becomes. The words, lost by time, are no longer soft, but hard and clip. The tempo changes, she is spitting the lyrics as she walks on. And the flowers wilt, first dropping in heavy sorrow then losing the will to shine completely. The trees rot, burdened by the unpleasant words they do not understand, no longer able to stand upright and the branches sag and the leaves pluck themselves from their home. The birds fall from the sky, their little hearts overwhelmed by the agony the demon sings of and the animals tumble dead at her heels overcome by the sound of madness.

The demon walks on without glancing back at the chaos in her wake. Her haunting melody pouring forth from her lips, the rhythm jumps and fluctuates with the remnants of the sad song. Before long, she changes the melody again. The words flow easily and the tune is comforting and soft as before. Where her foot falls flowers burst eagerly from the dry earth, where she caresses her hand for guidance and balance a sudden groan issues from the trees as they stretch higher and their leaves spread farther. Her voice echoes in the silent forest, where it reaches birds and critters alike slip from their hiding places to seek partnership and embrace in an old dance of lovers.

**Sesshomaru'sPlan**

"Why are we _here_?" She is snappish, her hackles raised. It pains me in a way I never knew I could feel pain. Agitated she swats at Youkou as the lake demon tends to the blood on her face and in her hair. But the little fledgling is not deterred by her actions. She was wise to come for me when the battle began. One day Youkou would be a force to reckon, but she is still young, and yet she was still wiser than Katsumi, coming to find me instead of jumping into a death sentence. Narrowed and dark eyes watch the Lords from the large chair I placed Katsumi on, trying to take in every action by every demon.

"The meeting is not over." It is a poor excuse, yet I must make this right, _immediately_.

"_I _do not have to be here." Her grumbling and snarling is a farce. The woman is terrified. Something happened to her, but for the life of me I cannot find a single mark on her body. There is some light bruising on her shoulder, a few red marks on her cheek, but that is all. No broken bones, no scratches, no blood of her own has been spilled. So what happened to her?

Okunote glares at his general. The newly made Lord will have a great deal to account for in his land. Those who oppose him will have to be made examples of; he will need to prove himself as quickly as possible. Or I will have to prove what becomes of those who attack what is mine. For now, I will contend to let him handle his land.

Kinaga and her mate snarl in dissatisfaction at the behavior of the late Tayorinai's followers. The Lord may grumble as she pleases, there is little I can say about her now. She had not left Katsumi but instead fought along with her – if only to "scratch an itch" as she put it.

Something must be done. Katsumi has told me that countless times since our arrival to the Counsel. But I see it now. The pearl bands need to come off. The proceedings of this Counsel are of no consequence to me at this point. A strange thought, I have never once put anything above the Counsel before.

"May we come to order?" Toudai's strong voice carries and silences. He turns his covered face in Okunote's direction, "Shall we deal with the sudden turn of events? Or would you like to handle it?"

The new Lord proves he has wisdom; he pauses to weigh the consequences. Then his cold eyes meet mine, "You may have a say in how this matter is treated," he bowed low to Katsumi, eyes to the ground. "There is nothing I can say that will make this right by you, Lady Katsumi, but please let me try."

"Good." I remark for her because her twitching is becoming worse and I need to get her out of here as quickly as possible. "But my part will have to wait." There is a collected tension within the enclosed space. Every demon trains his and her eyes on me with rapt attention. "I must take an early leave, Counsel."

"You? Leave the Counsel early?" Hageshii cries out in alarm as if I just issued my resignation. Then she laughs that high-pitched laugh no one can tolerate. Least of all the her mate and the Northern General who flinches behind her.

"It is a bit out of character of you, dear Lord." Kinaga purrs in curiosity. "Why the sudden change of heart? If this is about the attack on your mate, you should not have any need to worry the little Spit Fire can handle herself." The way she eyed Katsumi left the women shrinking into the large chair and pulling her lips back in a silent snarl.

I cannot stop myself; a growl pushes the Southern Lord back into her seat and into submission. Her mate makes a small move to defend her honor but I cut him down with a glare. The others only stare at my open hostility. Quite out of character, I'm sure. But I did not like what Kinaga was implying, nor the way she peered at Katsumi – as if she were a treat she would disembowel.

"We still have not discussed the greatest issue of our lands." I begin to bring their attention back to the meeting. "Naraku is still a menace to Japan. His power is growing as is his followers."

Hageshii scoffs, "He is not as much of a threat as you make him out to be."

Toudai rubs a hand across his exposed jaw, "Indeed, he has stayed within the West Land mostly, has he not?"

"He has," I agreed.

"And isn't this a power struggle involving your _brother_?" Hedoro sneer the words. The spider demon general of the South was a slippery creature. I despised him more than most of the Counsel members. His comment brought a shush over the room. My father's actions and choices were not unheard of. Everyone knew about Inuyasha and his human mother. In fact, Inuyasha at one point had been a key topic in the last Counsel meeting.

"Naraku's real name and identity are known to me. He is on a path of revenge involving my brother. For this reason he seems to stick to the West Lands – for now."

Okunote caught the implication of my last two words. "What do you suggest, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"He wishes to handle this business himself." Toudai smiles in the knowing way as he peers at me with no eyes. "Am I right?"

I nod though he cannot see it, "It is my duty to my Land to blot out the stain of Naraku before he infects your Lands as well."

There was a moment as the Lord convened amongst themselves. Katsumi sneered at me, "You're a clever one, aren't you?" Toudai and his General Kosui were probably the only ones who saw the manipulation I pulled. Well, along with Katsumi. As the others argued I began to examine her again. The red marks on her face were a faded pink now. As if she had scratched an itch. Hardly life-threatening, not even the angry marks they had been when I brought her inside. I frowned at that. Humans did not tend to heal so quickly.

"Sesshomaru?" I turned sharply to Toudai. He smile and it almost felt sad somehow. "We have reached a decision." He turned to Kinaga and Okunote who both nodded in agreement before he stood. "The North permits your leaving." Hageshii sneered as she looked away. Clearly her mate ignored her decision…again.

Kinaga stood next, "The South does not permit your leaving." I watched Hedoro smirk in triumph.

The room became deathly quiet as Okunote stood last and answered, "The East permits your leaving."

I did not wait for the consequences of the verdict. No doubt Kinaga and her team would call for a recount of events and evidence. I gathered Katsumi in my arms, she only protested a little, and stormed out of the room with Youkou close to my heels.

When we reached the door to our room I cast Youkou to work, to gather her things and prepare for our journey. She hesitated only a second as she stared at her mistress. "Youkou," I warned. The lake-demon scuttled away as fast as I had ever seen her.

"Don't scare her." Katsumi snapped as I placed her gently on her feet. Her fists gripping my clothes tightened until she found her balance then loosened until she was barely touching me. Her fingers lingered above my elbows.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

"I did." She pushed away from me completely.

"You have not told me everything."

"How do you know? You weren't there." She flinched away from her words. Her voice was still rough and quiet. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to blame you for what happened."

"I know you don't." Still, I should have been there sooner. "But you're not telling me everything. Something happened out there." She turned away from me to find her daggers and dueling knives laid out on the bed. When she looked at me I answered, "I had the foxes gather them for you. I told them not to touch the silver."

Her face softened, but instead of the smile I expected tears streamed down her face. Silent tears, she probably didn't even notice them. "Katsumi…" I pushed her hair away and began to catch her tears on my thumb. "What happened?" She shook her head. "Tell me, Katsumi." Again she silently told me no. "Please…"

I have never begged for anything in my life.

The woman shivered suddenly and turned on me at the same time. I had no time to prepare for her pounce. But her lips found mine with ease and rapidly we were locked in one another's arms, seeking warmth and affection is ways we had never experienced before. Her hand rubbed the back of my neck, a cold sensation against the sensitive skin. I pulled away to sigh against her lips. Only when we were alone could I be like this with her.

Back in the Counsel chamber I had wanted to desperately take her away from the demons' prying eyes. I wanted nothing more than to lay her on the bed and curl against her, to watch her sleep and heal. But I had to be the Lord; I had to handle the situation. I needed control. And that seems to be something lacking whenever we are alone.

She surges forward, her tongue caressing my lips and fangs before I seize one of her wrists. "Katsumi!" But her other hand wraps around my neck and she doesn't want to talk anymore. We need to talk. Letting her wrist go I take a fistful of her hair and as gently as possible I push her back.

"What?" she rasps. Her voice is getting weaker.

I look down at her for a moment before she steps back and takes a look herself. "Oh," she says, as if she only just remembered she was drenched in demon blood, "right." Her nose scrunches in distaste. Then she pulls herself away from me, she forces distance and I have to permit it or I will hurt her.

"Sorry," she mutters as she looks away. The marks on her face fade as her cheeks stain pink.

"Come here," I turn away without watching to see if she will comply. She better; that is all I can say now. I open the back door to the bath only the Lords' bedchambers have. I wish I hadn't turned Youkou away. _She _should be the one drawing a bath. I turn to find her following me with her head down in resignation. What does she have to be guilty about? No, this is _not_ Youkou's place. _I _am her mate; _I _have to take of her, to heal her. This is a place for no other.

It was simple enough to do; I had been doing it myself since I sent Jakken to tend to Rin in the village. But…I glanced at my missing arm. It had never bothered me before. I stole a glance at Katsumi as she stood out of the way in the room watching me as I gathered the wood in one corner to shove it underneath the wooden tub. Her dark eyes almost seemed distrustful in the darkness. When I turned away she spoke in that same quiet voice.

"Have you noticed anything different about me since we first met?" Although it could be said that her voice sounded harsher than usual, I doubted that had anything to do with what happened on the battlefield and more to do with her apprehension.

I held my tongue. I wanted to ask if she was referring to the incident when she slaughtered a horde of demons by herself. But that was something she seemed rather intent on pushing far from her mind. "Different in what way?" I asked instead.

When she didn't say anything I began to grow cautious. She was warring inside and debating what to tell me and what to keep to herself. I lit the fire with the flint stones and pulled back to open a faucet with a pull-cord near the tub. Fresh water flowed into the tub, the sound drowning out the silence for a moment. When it was full, I let the cord go and turned toward her. Still condemned to her corner she peered at me through dirty hair. Her arms wrapped around her torso like whenever I asked her about the scar there. She looked small and frail in the disheveled _kimono_.

I held out my hand to her, "Come here," I called softly, more cautious than if she were a wounded baby dragon about to bite my head off. I caught her hesitation, but ignored it as she came to me on shaky legs. She slipped her hand in mine and suddenly it was as if everything was lifted like a fog. The caution and hesitation melted away as she shook her head and took the remaining steps closer to me.

"I feel different," she began in a whisper that barely reached my ears. "I think it might be the demon jewelry…" she cut herself off as she bit her lip.

I thought about that for a moment. "You mean your strength and agility?" I thought back to her duel with Tayorinai. She was quick, devilishly quick, and she could keep up with a Lord. That was a marvel and a one-time-thing, or so I had thought. She nodded. "There are certain material objects that can enhance human abilities to that of demonic scales." She looked at me with an expression of almost pure relief. My stomach clenched at it. "We will bring it up to Chimitsu when we arrive at her domain."

"So it will go away whenever we remove the bands?"

I frowned at her hopeful tone and face, most humans _desired _more power. "It should. As far as my experience has led me to believe, that is how it should work." She sighed and pressed her forehead to my armor.

"Stars and stones," she breathed.

**Sesshomaru'sPlan**

So I'm not going to be messed up for the rest of my life. The bracelet is reacting strangely. I've never been hooked up to any demonic jewelry, so I never knew there were these kinds of side-effects. But soon I won't have to worry. Chimitsu will unhinge us and everything will go back to the way it was. And I'm booking the next flight to America as soon as I'm on the other side of that well.

There really is no need to worry about it. And I decided to push the idea from my mind as I pushed myself out of the tub. The water was turning cold anyway. As I climbed out I realized I didn't bring any change of clothes. And as I had been soaking someone stole away with my bloody rags.

A fluffy towel awaited me and I wrapped myself up quickly before I opened the door to the bedroom. Youkou was sitting begotten in the middle of the stone floor looking miserable and putout. I frowned as I glanced around for Sesshomaru.

"Youkou?" The lake she-demon perked up immediately. Her face brightening and her shirts swishing about her tiny body as she pushed herself up to rush to my side.

"Mistress!" she exclaimed as if she had been waiting for me and doubted I would come. She stopped a few inches away from me, seconds from wrapping me up in hug. But she caught herself and pulled back as if I had burned her. "I-I'm so sorry! I forgot m-myself." She clasped her hands in front of her, bowed her head resignedly and waited for me to order her about.

I bit my lip. Sometimes I didn't know what to do with her. "Could you…help me dress?" I finally decided. Youkou sped off, glad to be of use. As she gathered silk and fabric I asked as nonchalantly as possible, "Where is Sesshomaru?"

Youkou flinched but answered with her back to me. "He is making preparations for…our journey." I noticed the way she hesitated to include herself. Poor Youkou.

"Will this be your first time leaving the north?" She flinched again.

"I-I've left before. For the m-meetings and whenever the Northern Lady traveled." She reminded me of a kicked puppy.

"Are you scared?"

She turned on me with wide eyes. "Oh no, my Lady! I'm not afraid of the West."

"Are you afraid of Sesshomaru?"

She shook her long hair and it swished liked her skirts. "No! The Western Lord has shown me nothing but toleration. I cannot imagine him hitting me."

I reached out and snatched her tiny wrist. "Who hits you, Youkou?" She whimpered and curled in on herself. I let her go then asked more kindly, "Who would hit you? Please, tell me. I will not let anyone hurt you."

She shook her head but answered me as she hung her head in defeat. "The Northern Lady would beat me. But it is her right." She rushed on, "I am her maidservant! I am supposed to be beaten if I do a poor job."

I pulled the she-demon into a hug and stroked her hair for a moment. "I will not beat you, Youkou." She sniffed into my bare shoulder. "If we have a misunderstanding I want you to be honest with me." Her eyes were wider than before as she pulled back to check if I were lying. "I have so few I can trust. If I cannot trust you then what hope do I have?"

Youkou sniffed once more, pulled her arm across her eyes and straighten to her full height. Then she nodded at me. "Yes, Mistress."

As Youkou began wrapping me up in whatever _kimono_ she decided, I began to worry about the little lake-demon. When I leave, would Sesshomaru take care of her? Would he hand her back to the frigid north lady?

Youkou had a dedication like most dogs. Would she follow me to my world?

No. I shoved the idea away.

And yet, somehow I still thought I was betraying Youkou if I traveled back home.

That, and I knew my leaving would upset Sesshomaru a great deal. He didn't like it when people planned things without his knowing. But it wasn't like I could stay.

_Can't you? What makes you think your life before was of any significance? What is so bad with wanting to stay with Sesshomaru?_

It wouldn't work. We were only humoring one another. Our passion was driven by curiosity, nothing more.

_If you wish to lie, you will have to do better than that._

I thought back to the battlefield, Sesshomaru decimating demons with a flick of his power. The way he walked straight to me, without a second glance at his subjects. I thought back to the fox-demons and swamp-demons and plain-demons that fought at my side. They had waited until I confirmed I was alright before they tended to their own wounds. As she stepped back I watched Youkou admire her handiwork. She cared for me as well.

_Deep down you know you should stay._

What I want and what I need are different things.

_They are not so different, as you will let yourself believe._

**Ok! How great is that! I shoved a lot in here 'cause y'all have been a lovingly patient audience and you deserve all kinds of goodies for your following and favoriting. With school over I hope to write more, and I hope not to make y'all wait six months ever again! **

**Please comment! As much or as little as you want, but I would LOVE to hear what you think. **

**Merry Christmas!**


	18. On Chimitsu's Mountain with a Lie

**Chapter 18 is dedicated to **Royal Kitsune** for telling me it was worth the wait! It is good to know it's worth it 'cause I made you wait a very long time!**

**It also goes to **Ryanrene97 **for being my 100****th**** reviewer!**

**On Chimitsu's Mountain with a Lie**

"Rin!" The little girl sat ram-rod straight as if I had slapped her. "Stop messing with Youkou."

Rin only grinned at me. "But she's pretty!" She reached out with her little hand and pulled at the lake she-demon's long and curly hair. Youkou winced, pulled her lips away from her lips as if she were going to snarl, but kept quiet and still as the little one giggled.

"Don't make me come back there!" I snapped and both girls straightened with wide eyes. With a sigh I turned back to the road ahead. It wasn't a road at all. We had left dirt paths long ago and were traveling cross-country –style: over the weeds as tall as my knees to reach Chimitsu's mountain. Running comes natural to me, but this _walking_ is definitely not my thing. I have little tolerance to the _time_ it takes to get from one place to another by walking. The dull ach of monotonous movement and endless plodding left me irritated, itching for a…_something_ to relieve me of the mindless bore.

My dragon-scale boots proved to be perfect for everything, however as we trekked on. They were water-proof, strong enough to slam a Lord in her place, and left not a single blister. Something I'll take back with me when I'm done here.

That thought left a sour taste in the back of my throat, as it did every time I thought about my home, my parents, my job, and saying goodbye to Sesshomaru for all of it. No, I didn't like the idea of leaving. I kinda, sorta, almost liked it in ancient Japan. More than the living temptation Sesshomaru was, I was beginning to grow fond of this _place_. Rin, Youkou, the subjects of Sesshomaru's court, as my mind ticked them off one by one the idea of leaving sounded less and less like my brightest idea. But there _is_ something wrong with me. _I _feel wrong. Too strong, too fast…

My thoughts traveled to the time (oh, so long ago) when my cousin's jewel was lodged into my flesh and blood. The mangled and mutated bodies of the horde that had chased after me and Sesshomaru coming out of the trees claiming I had massacred them all. There was a blank spot in my memory. Between the time I ran from Kagome and when Sesshomaru found me, there was a whole lot of nothing. As I get stronger, move quicker it is like Sesshomaru's word become more like the truth every day. But I couldn't have murdered that horde.

No. I didn't do it. Something else must have. I was splattered with blood and the "something" figured I was a slab of meat, good and dead. I was spared and left with Sesshomaru to deal with.

The fore-mentioned demon's deep voice caressed my mind and shattered my thinking, "What are you worried about?" I flinched as my train of thought wreck horrifically into unrecognizable parts.

Not sure whether it was a good idea or not, I looked up at Sesshomaru, Demon Lord of the West. His long silver hair flowed as a mild breeze picked up. His gold eyes bright as the sun shined high above us. Beautiful like a myth, Sesshomaru was a savior and tormentor to me. And like the fool in the tarot cards I blindly walked towards him, unaware of my imminent demise.

"What if Chimitsu can't undo this?" I pushed the rich fabric off my arm to let the sun catch the glimmer in the pearl-like band. I shook my head, a lame excuse but it wasn't exactly a lie. It was this stupid piece of demon jewelry that ruined me in the first place. _It _not _I_ was causing my distress and change. _It_ needed to go.

But Sesshomaru seemed unconcerned with my worries. He smirked as if the idea of anything going wrong was completely unbelievable. I wish we could all live in Sesshomaru's happy-rainbow-and-marshmallow-world. "Do not fear. Chimitsu will do it." The _"or else" _hovered in the air between us, and my mind traveled back to when the southern demons tried to kill me and Sesshomaru saved me. Suddenly the hot air dropped to a bitter chill.

Sesshomaru was a force to reckon with. He could still kill me. I mean, the only reason he couldn't was because we were locked in some mystical life force snare. If I died he would die. I glanced at the sparkling jewelry; what was stopping him from killing me when Chimitsu took it off? What was worse, becoming a monster or having to die by Sesshomaru?

Maybe he'd be quick about it. Maybe I'd just vaporize and wouldn't feel a thing.

"Do not fear," Sesshomaru said again as he brushed my hair away from my face.

With a careful shrug I pulled back and huffed at him. "You are mistaken, _my Lord_." His eyes narrowed and I grinned like a cat with cream. "I am not afraid."

"So you say," he paused as if he were going to say more but only widened his stride and walked away from me. _Going to sulk, are you?_

"Miss Katsumi?" Rin called and I realized Sesshomaru left me with the children.

"Yes, Rin?"

"Are you and Lord Sesshomaru fighting?"

"What makes you say that?" I thought we were acting nicer than ever in front of Rin. I mean, we kinda decided to try the whole mate thing during the convention…before that it was a bunch of growling and snarling. Sure he seemed upset now, but that was a million times better than where I had been when we first met.

"Lord Sesshomaru looks cross." She pouted. Rin would take Sesshomaru's side no matter what I said. I frowned at the weeds. What could I say to her? Was he really upset? What could he possibly be upset about? We were going to be free. We wouldn't have to worry about dying and having the other come along for the ride. He could handle his demon lord duties and I could take a first class trip back home. We'd never have to see each other again.

And we both _knew_ that was going to happen.

"Why do you say that, Rin?"

She looked away as if she shouldn't tell me, but Youkou spoke up, "You know Sesshomaru better than my Mistress, if you could provide her a clue so as not to upset Lord Sesshomaru in the future I'm sure he would greatly appreciative." Note to self: Youkou will always be on _my _side.

Rin hesitated for another moment before she looked back at me. "Sesshomaru is really smart, Katsumi. He always knows when something is wrong. I don't tell him I'm hungry or tired but he always knows when I am." The little girl looked terribly uncomfortable talking to me about Sesshomaru. It was like the girl worshipped the demon lord, and speaking his name too many times would summon him and catching her talking about him behind his back.

I pat the girls head, stroked her hair for a moment before I said softly, "There is nothing wrong, Rin."

"But that's the thing!" She called out desperately, "He sometimes knows I'm hungry before I do!" I withdrew my hand as if she had burned me.

What could he be upset about?

"_There's something bothering you and I want to know what."_

"_What would you do with that information?"_

"_So you are upset by something."_

"_I didn't say that."_

"_You didn't deny it either."_

Sesshomaru had asked me if I was going home and _never coming back_. And that had bothered him. He was agitated and irked and that was when I barely knew him. But I knew something was wrong. Leaving bothered him. Or not telling him. Either way, I was about to do it again and Sesshomaru probably knew it. Maybe he had a feeling. No, no he _knew_ I was going to leave because I _told _him I would.

"_You can kiss me again. Just while we are stuck together. Maybe just until I have to go back…We can pretend…"_

Yes. Pretend. We could pretend all we wished, but reality always returns. I shouldn't have bargained with the devil. I should have run the moment I saw him.

_You did…_

I should have run harder. I should have never stopped. I should have kept have I not run when the opportunity presented itself?

I've been doing it since…

"_You cannot escape me."_

"_**Flee, my child, flee**__!"_

Running is all I know. And Sesshomaru knows this. He knows I will run the second I'm free. He knows I will back out of our deal – even though I'm not violating any rules, I will still be fleeing like the small I child I use to be. I will not stay with him to learn what it would be like. Unconsciously my hand hovered over my chapped lips. He had kissed him, like _kissed me senseless_. And the warm feeling I unreasonably labeled "safe" whenever he was around couldn't be ignored. I did feel safe around him. Against my better judgment, against any judgment at all, I desired Sesshomaru.

My footing failed me. I hit the ground hard. The air left me as my mind latched onto that thought. I _desired_ Sesshomaru! I _wanted_ to be with him! More than anything, I wished to stay with him.

Not his subjects, not Youkou, not Rin…I wanted _him_!

I wanted more than a taste. I wanted more than stolen kisses. I wanted what his subjects saw in me. I wanted what Kinaga saw in me. I wanted Tayorinai saw in me.

As I lay in the dirt and weeds I realized that _I_, demon Executioner extraordinaire, my parents' pride and joy and deadly weapon, the nightmare of the future, the songstress of silver, a simple and broken seventeen-year old girl, wished for nothing more than to actually become Sesshomaru's mate. I craved it. I craved the life next to Sesshomaru, with Rin and Youkou, and all his subjects looking to me to guide them. I wanted to do more than murder.

Murder…

_**Murder…**_

"Katsumi!" Sesshomaru's voice was strong and _loud_! How long had he been calling me?

I looked at him. His pale face, his red marks along both cheeks, one set with a thin line through them, his blue mark on his forehead, his white hair that reflected the sun and made him glow, his pointed ears, his neck with the faint mark on one side, his armor and the furry garment that never seemed to get dirty, the two swords at his side, at least one I know brings instant destruction. He is still as if he knows I'm dissecting him. How could I want to run from him? Why would I even want to? He had never done a thing to me.

Yes. He threw me. Right into a tree.

But since then he had never raised his hand to me. He could have. I just didn't need to die; he could have tortured me. He could have done a number of things to me.

He could have taken whatever he wanted from me. But he waited until I asked.

_I asked for a taste thinking I wouldn't want more. _

Like the fool in the tarot cards, I blindly walked towards him, unaware of my imminent demise. But also like the fool, I would take great pleasure in it as I ignored the bad and focused on the good.

I was not that simple, frightened child anymore. I did not need to flee every time it becomes convenient to me.

_**Flee, my child…**_

NO! I would not run from Sesshomaru anymore! I had no need of fleeing and dodging and escaping my life anymore!

_Silver take my present! Take my parents, as hard and uncaring as they had ever been what need would they have of a smitten girl! Take my job, for so long as I can use you, oh Silver, to protect the man I love what need do I have of defending a world that hates me! Silver take the life I once knew! And I pray that I forged my own life from here on out that is not carved by my running!_

I kissed him. As I sat there in the weeds I grabbed his armor at the front edge and pulled him to me. He did not resist. I kissed him like back in that bedchamber, with the same wanton abandon of our first kiss. With all the conviction of the first time I made a bargain. But I'm not taking just a taste this time. I want him. All of him, Lord and all that goes with it.

And I will do whatever needs to be done to get what I want!

He pulled back when my tongue caressed his between his fangs. His sharp gold eyes try to cut me down. But I'm not some maiden; I'm not a withering flower. I smirk, in challenge, in acceptance, and in simple thrill of kissing the man I love.

He pauses, probably to ask me stupid questions. I rush forward to cut him off but he pulls back. "Katsumi!" he exclaims and it is a rather entertaining reaction. "What are your intentions?"

"I'm trying to kiss you." I snap as if dealing with a difficult child, gentle but firm. "But you're making it a bit problematic for me." I kiss the inside of one of his wrist were his arm holds me by my shoulder. "Will I have to settle?" I kiss a bit farther up to the inside of his elbow, here I linger. His eyes suddenly widen before he seizes me harder. I heard the sharp intake of breath and by the way he gaped at me (in the way only Sesshomaru could "gape") I either did something _very_ right or _very _wrong.

"Sesshomaru," my hand stroked his arm gently, "Let me kiss you." But he doesn't move. Rin said he was _so_ smart, but he really isn't. "Right now," He stares at me as if I have _no business_ being so demanding. "And again later, and again tomorrow. Let me kiss you the next day, and the day after, and the day after." I watch as his face shows when the realization settles over him. It's like frame-by-frame of irritation, a questioning quirk, flowing into shock, and finishing at a grin that set my body aflame in the most pleasant way.

"Will you swear?" His gold eyes burn brightly, "That u will kiss me tonight, tomorrow, and the day after, and the many days that follow?" His voice is rough, he shoves them at me as if he does _not_ want to be talking right now, but forcing himself to hear a conformation.

"I do so swear to you, Lord Sesshomaru of the West that I will stay with you so long as you wish and kiss you every day from now until the reaper takes me." My hand has gripped his arm, the other already in his hair and stroking his neck. "And let me add that I will not tolerate another's lips upon yours but mine!"

He doesn't say anything, per say. It's more like a rumbling laugh and a purring growl as he pulls me against him and his lips press against mine in the same hungry and reckless passion I displayed earlier. His arm wraps around my middle and tightens slightly as my tongues slips back into his mouth. One of my legs hits the hilts of his swords and I'm practically in his lap before there is a quiet sound followed by tires screeching on pavement and a string of girlish giggling. I rip myself away as if he burned me. I forgot about our entourage.

I clear my throat, "Rin, Youkou," I glance at the toad and frown at his stunned and ugly face, "Jaken…" What do you tell a six-year old girl, a fourteen-year old lake demon, and a lord's advisor? Sesshomaru pulls himself up to his feet before he leans down to help me up.

"Jaken, close your mouth." He says, his eyes focused on the dirt and grass clinging to my _kimono_. "Rin, do not be rude, laugh more quietly." The girl's giggles only grow as she hugs one of the horse-thingy's necks. "Youkou, please assist Katsumi in cleaning her _kimono_." The lake demon rushed over as if just waiting for Sesshomaru to move away from me.

I slip my hand in his before he takes off and leaves me with _them._ He stares at me. That's right,_ you tell them_. He looks like he wants to sigh, but he won't because of his upbringing. "Jaken, Katsumi wishes to become my mate." I squeeze his hand. "I wish for this as well." He adds. Damn straight he does, I grin at the toad.

Before Jaken can screech at how unfit I am, Rin squeals, "Oh! Lord Sesshomaru! Are you getting married! I bet you will look beautiful in a wedding dress Miss Katsumi!" She giggles some more as she continues with childlike glee, "You need to put your hair up in flowers! And can Ah and Oon take you down the aisle?" Her insistent prattling unsettles my stomach for a moment. But if I want to be his wife I'd have to have a wedding don't I? And because he's a Lord it will have to be this big deal involving his entire domain.

I cut Rin off as we begin walking again, "We can talk about weddings later, Rin" she beams at me "For now let's simply deal with our business with Chimitsu." But Rin runs off a list of things that a woman of this era needs for her wedding. As Sesshomaru goes on ahead with a persistent Jaken, I turn to Youkou who has been quiet this whole time. "Youkou?"

"Mistress?"

"What are you thinking?" She looks at me as if she said something wrong – even though she hasn't said anything yet. "Please, tell me." I pat her head and she flinched before my hand gently touched her hair. I believe this little one was beat by Hageshii.

"I would like to know what you're thinking Youkou, like when you told me what _kimono_ would impress Sesshomaru the most. I want you to be honest with me." Her wide inked-out eyes stared at me without blinking for a long time before she whispered so quietly I had to strain to hear her.

"Mistress, I do not understand what just happened." I waited. "Um…I thought you and Sesshomaru were already mated…" she was shaking, the poor thing.

Look, pity for a demon. I can't go home even if I hadn't made up my mind.

"Oh, right…" Oops. I forgot about that. "Um, actually, that was a lie." She threw her head up as pink stained her greenish skin. "We had to because…" I looked back at Rin who was singing and laughing and pulling at the horse-thingy's hair. I lowered my voice as I turned back to Youkou. "Sesshomaru and I came across some of Naraku's henchmen weeks ago and slapped these on us." I held the bracelet out for Youkou to see. Her eyes followed the sparkly band for a moment before her confused expression glanced up at me.

"See, Sesshomaru wears a pair and somehow this jewelry ties Sesshomaru life to mine. If I die he will die as well." The lake she-demon gasped and shakes her head. I rush on, "We were going to go to Chimitsu earlier, but because of the Counsel we had to wait." I bit my lip. I didn't like the next part but Youkou was trustworthy. She didn't know how to be any different.

And if I'm done with running away I might as well start with trusting the little lake demon entrusted to my well-being, no?

"The bands also make sure that Sesshomaru and I cannot be away from each other for long. It physically hurts me when he is gone too long." I glare at the object hanging innocently off my wrist. "So we had to say we were mated so that we could stay close to one another." Youkou's thin eyebrows bent inwardly as she frowned at my wrist.

"You lied."

I flinched, "Yes, Youkou."

Suddenly she looked at me, her head almost striking mine. "But you are telling me the truth now?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Wh-what?" her words shocked me. Why wouldn't I tell her?

"You told me the truth? Why?"

"Because I trust you."

Youkou watched me for a long time as we walked. Finally she nodded. "Seshomaru is my Lord and you are my Lady; it is my duty to protect you in any way I can." I waited. The lake-demon is a strange little thing. "Thank you for telling me the truth, Mistress. I did not receive the truth often in the North." By her short, clipped tone I assumed this was not something she wanted to dive too deep into.

So I let her anguish go as I watched Sesshomaru similarly calm Jaken down.

**On Chimitsu's Mountain with a Lie**

Apparently there is a difference to the appearances of one mountain demon's domain over another. Chimitsu's dwelling was not like her brother's. He at least had a freaking welcome mat, with the giant opening and the easy to access tunnel.

Chimitsu did not like to be as easily found.

Sesshomaru could not find her welcome mat.

"Perhaps we have the wrong mountain?" He glared back at me and I held my hands up in a placating manner. That had only been the second time I asked. He walked the perimeter of a boulder several times before moving on, only to come right back to it. Obviously there was some demon juju going on with that rock, but there seemed to be absolutely nothing obvious about it.

"Or perhaps if you called her out?"

Sesshomaru did not look my way as he growled, "It is not polite to call a demon out in her home." So what? Happy-feely-lovey-dovey time is over? I make the biggest decision of my life and we only share a couple of damn fine kisses and a few extravagant words?

His fist colliding with the stone brought a frown to my face. How un-Sesshomaru-like behavior. I placed my hand on his arm before he could strike again. "And this is polite?"

Too proper and eloquent to sigh, he turned to me. "I have brought us so close…"

Indeed, he had done everything, taken care of every need. "Have you tried knocking?" He eyed me skeptically. "This is the opening?" At his nod I smiled. Then I raised my fist and gentle rapped the boulder. I felt absolutely stupid. But demons had rules. They followed a type of logic I was only scrapping the surface of.

Just to feel less silly I called out, "Cimitsu! I, Katsumi, call upon your expertise." I removed the fabric covering my wrist and help it up.

We waited quite a long time before I huffed, "Perhaps she isn't home."

A small, condescending voice, crisp and clear as fresh, river water spoke to us from the top of the boulder, "I most certainly am 'ome. And I do not appreciate you violating my domain, _little dog_!"

I most certainly did _not_ "eep" and jump back at the sound – because it was not a giantess who spoke but a tiny little mouse who peered at us from above. Brown, furry, small and slightly cute the mouse sat and stared with its little black eyes.

Sesshomaru recovered first. "Chimitsu," he bowed with a sweeping gesture of his hand. On reflex I followed him. "I apologize for not sending a warning but-"

"BAH!" the mouse wave an itty, bitty paw at him before sniffing the air. "I'd 'ave set a stinging trap if you 'ad." Its eyes took in every party member in a heartbeat before it gave me a double glance. "You've takin' a likin' to mortals, 'aven't you, _little dog_." I flushed, though I wasn't sure why.

"Cimitsu," Sesshomaru insisted, as if dealing with a hyperactive child, _focus here,_ "We have need of you."

"'Course you do!" The mouse didn't really sound like a mouse at all. It was clear, deep, and although with a heavy accent it wasn't anything what you'd think a mouse _would _sound like if they did speak. Chimitsu scurried about half-way down the boulder, level with my face as its black eyes caught mine. "Wat's all this '_we_' business?"

And there was _power_ in Chimitsu. I could feel it brush against me like a spider's web. Sticky and delicate. I didn't swallow the lump in my throat, I didn't dare. Instead, I held my hand out, and hoped she wouldn't bite me.

"_Ah_," the mouse closed its eyes before turning to Sesshomaru. "I see." Then the mouse scuttled the rest of the way down. Landing in between my demon boots before it held its paw up to the boulder. A gentle gust of mountain air, sharp and cold forced me to cover my eyes for a moment and when I looked up again the boulder was missing and a large gapping entryway lay before us.

I gulped. I tapped that boulder. That boulder had totally been real a moment ago.

"Come," Chimitsu said as it hopped in front of us. "Bring the little ones with you, out of prying eyes." That last bit had Sesshomaru narrow his eyes. "You know you are being followed, yes?" Was the mouse _mocking_ Sesshomaru? I bit my lip for it would do me no good to giggle in the presence of a mountain mouse, an agitated Demon Lord, and the children.

"I-is that wise, my Lord?" Jaken turned back to the daylight as we followed our host. "I think I'd take our chances outside."

"'Course you 'ould," the mouse snapped. "Foolish toads, so easily scared of tight places."

"I'm not so found of them, myself." I quipped. Not for Jaken, simply because I hadn't said anything in a while.

The mouse eyed me, and let me tell you it is quite unnerving for a mouse to have such human intensity behind its black, beady eyes. Almost made me want to shiver and run. Instead I followed her silently and as close to Sesshomaru as possible. There was a great difference in the way Chimitsu home was laid out as well. Instead of the straight and narrow of Kyouryoku's mountain, this one was a maze of twists and turns and tunnels with multiple passageways branching off the one we stuck to.

Finally, the mouse stopped in a sunken cavern that teemed with a hundred little mice just like Chimitsu. None of them talked in anything but simple mouse squeaks and none of them turned to look our way as Chimitsu lead us to one large slab of stone surrounded by many others that varied in sizes. When Sesshomaru took one to sit I realized this might be her living room. The mice around us scattered and Rin giggled as they scurried around the horse-thingy's legs before the cavern appeared empty. It creeped me out worse than Chimitsu. Hundreds of little, beady eyes glaring at me from the dark…But I planted my feet and held the band out to the mouse, far enough away so that it couldn't bite me, of course. I don't want demon rabies or anything to add to my list of problems.

"Chimitsu, we have visited your brother-"

"Well, he _is_ more popular than I," the mouse motioned for Sesshomaru's wrist as well and he held it out level with mine. "What'd the fool say? Naraku threatened 'im? Tortured 'im? Did 'e steal the jewelry out from 'is 'airy ass?" Chimitsu spoke absentmindedly, making conversation as she poked and prodded the band and the skin around it. "Damn that fool! If that _itsumari _is using _my_ work than there is little to stop 'im."

"But you _can_ stop Naraku, right?"

Again Chimitsu paused as she held Sesshomaru's large hand with little paws and eyed me with her calculating glare. Then she said, "For now." The weight of her words crushed my chest. What was she talking about? Could she take the jewelry off or not?

Her pondering voice caught my attention; there was no sneering or glaring but a curiosity to her tone, "Huh…"

"Chimitsu," Sesshomaru eased her to share with the rest of us. No doubt he was just as uncomfortable as I.

The mouse stared at the two of us, turning from one to the other repeatedly. "Um…" she shook her little, fury head before letting Sesshomaru hand go and waving at it as if she could dismiss it. "That's odd."

_Oh good, that's right up there with, "Nothing could possibly go wrong" and "It couldn't possibly get worse."_

"Can you release us?"

"Yes, yes…" the mouse snapped her little claws and several of her mountain mates began bringing in little tools to help her work. None of it looked painful, but none of it looked remotely recognizable either. "It will be simple enough to release you…only…"

I gulped. "Only what?" Did I really want to know?

Chimitsu grabbed a simply line of string that glittered in the cavern and tied our bands together with it. Then she took a green leaf and placed it between Sesshomaru's skin and the band then took a dried up leaf and placed between my skin and the band. As she worked my nerves began to shriek. I wanted to jerk my hand away from whatever Chimitsu was doing. My fingers twitched and both the mouse and Sesshomaru stared at me.

"You may want to pin 'er down." Chimitsu suggested turning to Youkou. The lake demon turned to me with wide, nearly horrified eyes.

"Why?" Sesshomaru nearly snarled the word.

"Because she is going to try fight it."

I laughed. It sounded hollow and horse. "Why would-"

"'Cause," Chimitsu interrupted as she continued to motion Youkou forward while her eyes stayed on me. "Whoever put these on you did it backwards."

"What does that mean?" My voice might have been a tad too high. The mice that were helping Chimitsu flinched and several turned away.

"Little one," Chimitsu ignored me, "Do it now, please."

Still frozen I called to her, "If she says so, just do it." Youkou grabbed my biceps and held me tightly. It probably hurt but I focused on the mouse as she started slathering a dark purple cream over the bands, covering every inch of them. "Why would I fight-"

And then I felt it. A surge beneath the surface of my skin and deep in my belly. I jumped and Youkou's grip tightened. I tried to pull my hand away but Sesshomaru took it in his own without ruining Chimitsu's work.

_NO! No, no, no, no, no, no! _

And then the fire began to burn. It flared from my wrist and raced up my arm through my bloodstream. I cried out at how quickly it attacked me and screamed again as the pain settle around me like a suffocating cloud of smoke. My lungs filled with lava as the fire seized my heart in a fist and squeezed. I lashed out and kicked Youkou and Sesshomaru.

_How could they do this to me!_

Lightning bit my skin, my eyes, slithering into my nose and mouth like a snake. I choked and gasped but I only sucked more smoke down. I could see my muscles ripping apart from the pain. It slashed and hacked with the ferocity of a wild animal. My body burned with fever and my sweat boil off my flesh. I arched and tried to throw myself away from the demon in front of me.

Sesshomaru, Youkou and Chimitsu were yelling each sound bringing with it razors and blades that pierced my stomach at terrible angles only to be ripped out and shoved back in. My organs inside began yelling too.

_Leave me be! Put the fire out!_

Tears spilled down my cheeks but it felt like someone was pouring acid. I could smell ashes and burning flesh. Fire sprang up from my boots, it licked my toes and ankles like a hellcat, and I could see the skin peeling away, displaying polished bones. I screamed again and the sound was tormenting. White hot, liquid metal dripped from my ears and slid down my neck. I turned and slammed my head into Youkou and as her grip slackened I hit her cheek with the back of my free hand. She flew across the cavern into the dark.

Sesshomaru's voice was a fierce whisper as he pressed his face to mine. I was burning alive and he thought _now_ was the time for sweet whispers?! I hit him, shoved and kicked. I screamed and cursed and snarled and howled. My hand erupted in pain as the fire caressed me like a lover. It was a black flame, sinister as it slithered and hissed up at me. Fire reached up like fingers that were too long to be human and skimmed up my arm.

Over the stench of my torment and fear I smeledl something completely unexpected, something the stings with the cold horror it fills me with. Something worse than the fire and the lava; I catch the scent of rotted fruit in the air.

"_**Flee, my child, flee!"**_

From out of the darkness a creature pulls itself up using my arm. It is dark, its shape unrecognizable, but where its eyes should be are dark and hollow recesses. Its other hand reaches out and its too long fingers wrap around my neck and the fingers pass each other once then twice.

I would have preferred the smoke and ash to the burning cold that stole all breath from me.

I couldn't even scream anymore.

As the creature leaned down the world is swallowed up in blackness.

**On Chimitsu's Mountain with a Lie**

"What does this mean?" I turn toward the little mouse Chimitsu used to disguise herself as.

She shrugs, "Not a 'ol' 'eck of a lot." In a tiny bowl of water she cleans her paws. "She'll wake soon, and be just fine."

I frowned at the sleeping woman in my arms. "She mentioned feeling pain earlier."

"Yes, yes," impatiently Chimitsu spoke to several of her familiars before turning to look at me. "It is a failsafe."

I wanted to ask more, but Youkou stumbled from the corner Katsumi sent her to…_with just the back of her hand_. "Are you well, Youkou?" She flinched with wide eyes. I knew she had been in hell with Hageshii as a mistress, but the extent of it was unfathomable. That demon was crueler than most, with reasons to guide her hand.

"'Ere, child." Chimitsu motioned for the girl to come sit beside me. She flinched again before I commanded her to sit. Without hesitation she obeyed. Katsumi would have pounded me if she had witnessed it, but Youkou did not know any better. It was the way of it.

Of course, she pounded me just fine a moment ago. Her nails left angry welts down my face and neck. She had tried to go for my eyes before I managed to pin her to my body. Wherever she was now, however, my voice could not reach her there.

As a handful of Chimitsu's familiars treated Youkou's cheek, Katsumi stirred. A loud and unpleasant groan, as if she had too much to drink the night before, then she began pushing herself away from my arms. I tightened them, in case she wished to continue her fit, which forced her to fully awaken.

"Uh…" she looked around before spotting Youkou, then Chimitsu sitting quietly on the stone slab. "So that wasn't a dream just now?"

"No, _treasure_. 'fraid not." Chimitsu did not sound the least bit worried about there being a second attack. So I loosened my hold but did not let her go.

"Youkou! I'm so sorry! I didn't – I mean, it wasn't on – No! How could I?"

"I am well, Mistress." Youkou smiled, "I know you were under some kind of influence."

"That is no excuse!" She cried and her voice echoed loudly. She reached out to touch the lake demon's cheek before her hand went limp and she slumped in my arms, "there is no excuse…"

"You two can discuss this later," the mouse snapped impatiently. She is ready to be rid of us.

"You said whoever did this to us, did it backwards."

"Yes I did." She eyed me in her critical way. I knew my father had some kind of relationship with Kyouryuko, but Chimitsu was a mystery. Before her brother said anything I thought Kyouryuko was the only demon jeweler on this land. The mouse scurried about on her slab of a table as she chose her words carefully. So this wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Your bands are backwards." The demon pointed to Katsumi than to me. "Her band was meant for the demon and yours was meant for the human."

"Is that significant?" Katsumi muttered, her face pressed against my neck. Her breath was moist and warm as she sighed.

With a grunt Chimitsu continued, "The bands are not alive; they do not understand anything other than their mechanics." She tilted her head as she paused. Still choosey about her words she went on, "In essence, the bands are meant to bind the life of a demon to a mortal, giving the demon mortal limits. But with the bands reversed, your lives were still bound…only…" She seemed like she wished for me to finish her conclusion. But I wanted to hear her words. If she what she was saying was true…

"Your mortal life was bound to Sesshomaru's instead. The bands do not know they are reversed, only that their purpose is to bind one life to the other."

"Wait!" Katsumi sat straight, but my arm prevented her from leaving me. "So…Sesshomaru wasn't in any danger? And…And I wasn't really…"

Chimitsu smiled, and it was not a pleasant thing. "Clever, little thing. Yes, you were bound to Seshomaru's life. And…" the mouse backed slightly away, out of arm's length I noticed. "You also lost your mortal limits."

"HA!" she exclaimed, the sound echoing off the empty cavern walls. "I knew it wasn't me!" she laughed again, the sound surprising Chimitsu and myself. "I'm not crazy! I'm not wrong!" What was she talking about? We had already discussed this as a possibility.

Perhaps she worried even after I tried to ease her. I would need to work on protecting Katsumi from herself.

"There is more," Chimitsu was now at the very edge of the stone. Her black eyes glittered in the dark as she stared at me. Her minions squeaked in the darkness, uneasy and restless. "The jewelry influences the pair it 'as been bounded to. In order to leave the demon practically defenseless it makes sure the 'uman weakens him as well as distracts him."

I frowned. But I didn't feel anything of the sort. My behavior hadn't changed in the slightest since Katsumi and I were bound. I made an effort to protect her, out of preservation for myself at first. Later it was because she had been forced under my care. And now…

Chimitsu rushed on, ready to be rid of us, and flee into her tunnels and burrows. "The band meant for the demon reacts whenev'r the 'uman is out of sight. Since Katsumi wore the one meant for you she was instead influenced." Her eyes skittered over Katsumi in my arms. "I am surprised at your resilience. Any weaker being would 'ave probably died."

"You mean the phantom fire?" the woman had fallen back against me after her fit of triumph over nothing.

The mouse flinched, or scooted closer to the edge, "Yes...Probably. It was meant to influence and distract the demon with its new weakness. It kicks a demon's possessiveness into extreme, forcing the demon to keep its weakness close instead of keeping it somewhere out of another demon's reach."

"It went away whenever I was with Sesshomaru…" she looked up at me, her dark eyes shining with more worry. "And the well, it wouldn't allow us to separate either."

"I do not know anything about wells, but the one Sesshomaru wears, meant for the 'uman, was to influence its bearer into complacency." I felt my lips pull back at the word – such a _human_ word. "Your thoughts were swayed into accepting the binding." No…a mere _trinket_ could not do that to _me._ "Instead of trying to undo it, your thoughts would be inclined into allowing it."

All this time…Thinking that being with Katsumi was _supposed _to be. Thinking I was going to mate with her! The absurdity of the situation crashed against me like a tidal wave.

The _jewelry_ made me think it all!

I shoved the woman away. She was a liar, a hunter, and a _human_! What could I have seen in her? She had tried to kill me once. Why hadn't I made an example of her? How could I have allowed myself such a weakness? Was it just the band? Or was it curiosity? Or a mixture of both?

And the entire realm knows of this weakness as well.

It was all a lie. A thought shoved so far down my throat that I didn't even notice it was choking me. This little woman was no match for me. She was nothing but a human with a fancy blade and a clever tongue. She wielded no power, held no sway. She was nothing! No one! One more sack of meat that weaseled her way into my mind.

It was nothing more than a sweet lie.

"Sesshomaru?" She pushed herself away as well. Feeling the change in the air. My teeth ached as they elongated, my joints popped as my claws grew to their natural length and the air crackled with power I held at bay for _her _sake. The mice's squeaking grew to a cacophony of noise that drowned out the sound of _her_ gasp.

Chimistu called out to her and she fled without a second thought. Good. The hunt will quench my thirst for her slaughter. Then I will be able to make her suffer instead of a quick death. With even strides I followed out of the dark cavern.

**On Chimitsu's Mountain with a Lie**

Damn! Damn him! Dammit all! May the silver take him and leave nothing behind!

And may the silver take me as well.

I was running again.

Chimitsu was a fast demon, her small body speeding through her home like the devil she was. "There is no stopping that _dog_ once he is in a fury." She told me as I turned a sharp corner, bruising my shoulder in the process as I hit the cold wall before throwing myself after the mouse's voice. "It is a bad family trait I'm afraid." It didn't matter what she was saying, I wasn't listening. I just needed to follow her out of this dark maze and…figure it out from there?

Who am I kidding? Sesshomaru was going to _kill_ me. I could taste it in the air. His power was sharp like lightning. It would take no prisoners. Damn him! His jewelry tricked him into loving me? Like hell it did! The man was stubborn and cold, of course I should have known better than to fall for him. I should have _known_!

But _noooo_ I wanted to listen to the sweet call of insanity! I wanted to follow a dream and _pretend!_

"He is a child, Katsumi." The hell he was! That man was going to rip me into a thousand pieces! "He does not want to see what is in front of him." No, he wants to vaporize me. No, no he doesn't. He doesn't want a quick death for me. He will savor the chase and take me when I'm exhausted and weak. He will make me _beg_ for my death!

I pushed on, seeking the light of day as my lungs begged for mercy. Behind me I could hear the slow, even stride of a monster in no hurry because it wouldn't matter how far or fast I'd run. He will catch me in the end.

"_Where will you go precious, little thing?"_

It isn't the nightmare's voice I hear echo in my skull. It's Sesshomaru's. Dark and seducing, intoxicating and clever, it is a voice that sends shivers along my flesh even as I run from the harbinger of death.

I fell once I was out of the cave, my body shaking uncontrollably. When I pushed myself up I realized that the world wasn't blurring out of existence; I was crying. _Damn him!_

Chimistu was at my shoulder. She bit me hard enough to draw blood and I pushed myself to my feet. "The jewelry has flaws Katsumi!" It really didn't matter what she said. He was going to kill me…I gathered my feet beneath me and scooped the mouse up at the same time. He'd probably kill it too just for good measure.

I paused at the edge of a cliff. A waterfall drowned out all sound but the mouse's insistent squeaking. Where was the path that leads down the mountain? More squeaking, every third word reaching me where I had hidden my consciousness in preparation for the torture ahead, "What?"

"Even after I released the magic he was still holding you!" the mouse chittered; I scoffed as I turned away from the sudden free fall. Her words would do me no good now. I needed to get away, as far as I could.

I'd at the very least make him _work_ for it!

"He's going to kill me anyway!" But when I turned around it wasn't Sesshomaru blocking my path. It was a she-demon. Beautiful like all of them, to the point I don't even gawk at it; her silky black hair was pulled up and pinned with a feather as her red eyes did not touch her thin-lipped smile. Her _kimono_ was white and red and rich and beautiful. Her long fingers were decorated with long nails as he held a fan up to hide the smile that grew sinister every second that passed.

"Good afternoon, little human." _Oh I am so sick of demons calling me little…_ "And where is your big, bad demon to protect you now?" I almost laughed. _Don't you know? He's on his way to kill me. He'll be here soon if you want to watch._

Instead I snapped, "I don't have time for this!" I unsheathed my _katana_ and slash out at her. I caught the back of her hand that held the fan and blood gushed from the wound as she cried out in shock – not in pain, just shock. So silver affects her the same way it affects Sesshomaru. Peachy, just peachy.

"Human bitch! I will make you pay for that!" She came at me and I barely had time to get out of the way. As I rolled Chimitsu jumped off into a bush. "You think _you,_ a small and-"

"_Pathetic human can harm me_?" I mimicked her dark and sultry voice. "Lady, give me a break, I'm not in the mood for the haughty demon act." I'm already courting death. What's the point in hope anymore?

Our fight wasn't much, I got a couple of good hits, the inside of her wrist with a few nerves there and across her side, but once she disarmed me of my _katana_ and then one of my knives I figured it was all over now. Better she do it. I don't know her. Better she kill me quickly than let Sesshomaru finish me off slowly.

I looked up at that thought just as Sesshomaru entered our battleground from the thick tree line. His eyes widened for a moment. For a second, one glorious second, I let my mind paint a different Sesshomaru in front of me. He was the Sesshomaru who kissed me senseless only hours ago in the weeds. I remembered his hand on my back, pressing my body to his. His gold eyes alight with excitement. His lips were soft from his kiss, tugging at a smile that ghosted over his face.

He wasn't the frightening monster who hunted me.

Then a sharp and terrible pain erupted in my side. I lost contact of my dream as my eyes slide down and I saw the she-demon's fist just above my hip, just below my ribs, _inside me_. I gasped, but before I could scream she ripped her hand out and hot blood splattered the ground in front of us. The scream choked on the pain and a meek whine replaced it.

The world faded; colors and sounds dimmed and echoed at the same time. And for one second I thought I heard Sesshomaru bellow out my name before the random she-demon threw me and it felt like I was hovering over nothing, weightless, right before the waterfall erased all other thoughts from my mind and feelings from my body.

**Ok, so what do you think!? How about **_**that **_**for a "**_**cliff-hanger?" **_**I packed a great deal in this chapter because school is starting and you know what that means… Probably not another update for a couple of months. Don't hate! I wanted to give you a wide range of stuff. Plus this is like the half-way mark of the story. Maybe not **_**the**_** halfway point as in there will be another 18 more chapters, but more of a turning point in the story. **

**Hearing from y'all, as I've said before, motivates me into ignoring school work and writing fanfiction instead! **_**You**_** hold the Power of the Updates, do with it what you will. Just keep reviewing! **

**Tell me your favorite part, what you would like to see more of, what you would think will happen next…Or just tell me how awesome I am, that sounds good too! And I hope to give you something before March. **


	19. Enter the Band of Slayers

**Alright! Here's another chapter for my faithful followers! And to any new readers: Welcome!**

**Chapter 19 is dedicated to **OyaYansa9 **for the super special review you sent me! It makes me so happy to know that I'm doing something right with my writing. I love fiction and I love to describe settings and things. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**I must also give a shout-out to **That1NamedJekka **because your review truly touched me. Sharing my writing with your baby made me giggle with pride! I mean, you always want people to like your stories, but I didn't even consider the idea of people **_**sharing**_** my stories. Congratulations on your Joy! **

**And now on with the show…Let's see…Where did we leave off last time?**

**Enter the Band of Slayers**

_You need to center yourself, my mother would say. Training at age nine is tough work. It's drills, drills, drills, and sometimes, to break the pace, I was allowed outside with an escort. Some half-breed who drew the short straw would babysit me as I wondered the dark streets of the city. It was a blur of grey, dull and boring, my world, splattered with blood red when I was sent on my first mission. Then my collage was seeped in brown, aged and hardened with experience and nightmares. _

_You need to focus more, my father would tell me before bed. They never tucked me in. It was his mantra as I exited the training room; his final critique at the end of the day. They never told me where I came from, where they found me, and I didn't ask. It was only work, work harder, and then it became kill, and kill again. _

_I did kill. I executed my first demon at age twelve. I didn't do any of the work. One day a half-breed came in with a wiggling, snarling mess of a lizard-demon and dropped it at my feet. Its arms were contorted, broken in multiple places. One foot missing, a huge gash at its forehead, at first glance this demon looked miserable and weak. But its eyes were left untouched. They wanted me to look it in the eyes as I killed it._

_My parents observed. Quiet, stoic, as they waited for me to prove myself again. No one said anything as my father handed me a silver dagger. Not one word as I silenced the demon's sniffling with a deep cut at the throat. And the whole mess was cleaned with soundless efficiency. _

_I never told anyone I heard the demon's final whisper of thanks. I couldn't. But I never forgot. My nightmares never forgot. _

_You're terribly distracted. It is a habit that will get you killed. My mother was always the practical one. She knew how to cure me of my curious nature. A beating here, a lash there, it was for my best. You can't kill demons if you're distracted. _

_They called me Katsumi, Victorious Beauty, but there was nothing beautiful about me. I lived in a world where beauty is meaningless. Mirrors are not meant for looking upon; they are portals demons can use to enter your home uninvited. Hair is not meant to be glamorous; it could be used against me if a demon got a hold of enough of it. Vanity could be one's greatest weakness; so I cut the cancer cell out before it could spread. _

_No, their "victory" was nothing more than a machine. Kill this, kill that, Mother says jump and I did. You don't ask "how high" because that was not what they told you to do. _

_Father was the softy. He would reward me with a touch on the head if I did an exercise correct. He would give me my dinner once he was satisfied with my progress. He would use words to direct me whereas Mother used her hand. _

"_You cannot fall, Katsumi, because you may not have a chance to pick yourself up!" _

"_You are too distracted, Katsumi. Another hundred sets before bed." _

"_Swing too soon and a demon will take the chance to kill you."_

"_You must kill them before they kill you." _

_Their words were all I knew. All I allowed myself to know was the world they put me in. _

_In a pool of my own blood, they picked me up and nurtured me back to health. They were pleased with how little time it took me to recover. And once they learned of my Talent, there was no stopping how they would use me. How do you disobey the people who brought you back from the edges of death? _

_No, there was no simple childhood. It wasn't bedtime stories with milk and cookies. It was hard work. It was hours locked in the training room. It was being pinned against five half-breeds at fifteen. It was dark nights on the streets, patrolling and prowling. It was death and blood and silver. _

_There was no love. There were no secret caresses in the moonlight. There was no forbidden love, no taste of being held by another. I never knew such fantasies. _

_My first mission robbed me of all of that. I had been sixteen. While Kagome was falling down a well, I was introduced to Wulx. _

_Wulx was a wolf-demon. Just shy of the elegant dog-demon of legend and a leap away from the simply mischievous fox-demon, Wulx and his ilk were more animal than human. Their jawline had diminished more towards their animal relations and when they hunt, they did so on all fours. They were long and gangly, nothing like their shape-shifting brethren the werewolves, these demons were a stringy-haired and long-limbed lot. _

_It was a simple bounty-hunt. Nothing but a nod and a slight consideration in what weapon was the best choice had slipped my mind when I was assigned this hot-shot. Hunt him down and find where his pack was holding up. They crossed state boarders without permission. They needed to be apprehended. _

_I was supposed to wait for backup. A partner was supposed to meet me downtown. But when no one showed I went in alone. Pain and death were merely old friends of the family. I had no apprehension to the prospect of being ripped to a million pieces and feasted upon. You're told to do a job; you do it. It is not hard to figure out._

_Before I tracked them down, Wulx's gang massacred forty people from here to the interstate. I wasn't going to let him go just because my partner was late. He could catch up to me when he got here. Half-breeds had such keen scenes and all. _

_But he gave me more trouble than I thought. I found him with a small band of scouts, scoping the territory, which was strange – I had thought at the time since wolves were known to eat and flee. I killed the scouts with efficiency and accuracy. He was more of a problem as he went mad with rage, and I got careless. _

_In the end I was clawed up pretty horribly. The claw marks running down my back were the worst of it. But _he_ was a headless mass of meat and bones and blood. I got kinda carried away – or so I'm told by the others. And bleeding as I was I had to go back and finish the job. Wulx had a pack with him. He left them in an apartment while he took his scouts out. _

_Really, I should have known better. Quite the obvious fact, but there it is. Five wolf-demons dead and still no partner. No bits and pieces around meaning they didn't get to him first. And there was still a _pack_ to handle. A pack means mates, and mates mean there are pups. I should have _known_ there were going to be children. Wulx was scouting the place, checking for any danger to them. But I was in so deep; the shoreline was nothing but a dot to me. Stupid as I was, I waltzed into a den of wolves bleeding and carrying the blood of their alpha on my blade and hands._

_I killed them all. _

_It was a mess, a dark and gory mess. Their screams still haunt me. The cry of mothers as their child is ripped from them and the whimpers of pups as they are robbed of their mothers. It was the worst thing I ever witnessed in my miserable life. And I wrought it all._

_Several weeks longer than it should have taken, I healed to an extent. The other executioners commended me of my work, chastised me for going in alone, praised me for my bravery, lectured me about not getting injured the next time, and it all just washed over me like a wave. I retreated somewhere inside myself for a time. _

_My Mother is the practical one. Demon babies are still demons. She thrust me into training before my wounds were even fully healed. This is what she trained me for was it not? An Executioner carries out the punishment no matter who the convicted is. _

_My father was so soft. He told me he was proud. He couldn't have done better. He told me of his first mission, of the _test _his parents gave him. They had locked him up with a ravage, crazed and starved tiger-she-demon. They waited three days until they opened the hole they dumped him in._

_Wulx was a test of my training. There was no partner coming. They wanted me to kill them all because that was what they trained me for. That was what they _saved_ me for. _

_Three years later my parents were assigned to track a pack and began to follow the trail. I was sent to Japan to investigate the strangeness of my own family._

**Enter the Band of Slayers**

It was cold. Dreadfully cold. And wet. Yuck, I hate being wet. And something was with me. Moving me this way and that…pulling and twisting and yanking…

I jumped the rat and pinned him in the next second. He screamed. It hurt my head. But without a second thought I tied him up with a rag in my peripheral vision. It would break easily, but his upper body strength was pretty poor. I twisted his hands behind him, jerked the arms at an odd angle and twisted the rag around his scrawny wrists. That done I fell back utterly exhausted.

My breathing was ragged, and it hurt to do so. Once that was noted I began coughing horribly. It was a wet sound, like I had been held underwater for too long. The coughs shook my body, which made my head hurt even worse. Water dribbled out my nose and with each cough a fistful of water splashed out. Check for injuries, you stupid girl. No bleeding, no open wounds, no punctured marks, no scratches…wait..oh…no that wasn't from a demon, probably a tree or something…no scratches, no immediate dangers, so I must have been running and…

I turned behind to find a roaring stream bubbling and boiling as it rushed down and twisted around jagged rocks and boulders. Something about the river bothered me. Should I go down there? Did I leave something there?

The rat made a noise, struggling and frustrated, and I turned back to him. "**What were you doing**?"

"Hey! Hey! I saved your life!" he spoke in Japanese. Oh, ok… I know Japanese.

"Where did you find me?"

"I-i-in the river! I pulled you out!" He was shaking now, something wet dribbling down his cheeks and nose. "Don't-don't kill me?"

"Why would I kill some-" I broke off. There, just a little beyond the boy was my silver all lined up in a neat little row. My dueling blades, my switchblade, two of my throwing knives, all lined up like ducks. My hand instinctively went to my back. My _katana_ was missing. I counted the weapons again, so was a dagger. I patted my wrists. No, both of those were still there.

When I made my inventory I turned on the little rat again. Mud and water patted his black hair down, his clothes were stained, but they may have started out that way. The quality of his clothing was coarse, his sandals worn. And…it looked like he was wearing a tunic with an old leather belt. That was weird. He looked completely out of place.

But he was taking what was mine, and probably knew where the rest of it was too.

I grabbed him by the front of his shirt – tunic – and gave him a good shake. "Where's the rest of it!" I shook him again just to scare him. He was shaking again.

"That's it, that's all you had on you! I swear! Look, I thought you were dead!"

I did not have time for this. I tossed him aside and began locking my weapons in place, slipping them home. It felt odd not to have a blade at my back. And even though I carried three throwing daggers, I still thought I felt heavier on one side without the third blade. When I was finished I snatched the boy up again and sighed.

There are rules to my Influence. Who to use it on and who not to, but I don't have the time to listen to the ghosts of my parents telling me what to do. I still need to go down the riverbed and see if the boy dropped anything as he "saved me."

"**Where is the rest of it**?" I asked again. Slowly, as if speaking to a little child and with a bit more effort past the headache throbbing at the back of my head since I woke up.

He relaxed, slumping slightly as his eyes glazed over. "That's all you had on you." He answered quietly and surely, at least he wasn't stuttering. I sighed at that. He couldn't lie under the Influence. So maybe they were still by the river.

"**Where am I**?"

"In the Purotekuto Providence." I frowned. Where's the…Providence?

"**What's the date**?" For some reason the answer seemed urgently important and yet I didn't want to know at the same time.

For a second the boy looked confused but he answered anyway, "The day is the third of the week. The month is the fifth month of the year. The year is of the dragon…" Maybe he simply couldn't answer my question because he didn't know.

Before I could ask him anything else the ground began to shake as if an earthquake gripped us. I pushed the boy down and covered his body with my own. He began shouting immediately, my sway over him severed when the earth distracted me.

The river began making a strange noise that pulled my attention its way and I saw a giant, mass of sea-plant life throw itself onto the shore, followed by another blob, and both messes began pulling an even bigger mass up from the depths of the river. I watched in awestruck horror as the sea monster looked one way then the other as its eyes locked with mine. Or at least his eyes might have been there. Seaweed draped over its face, like stringy hair, obscuring anything remotely humanoid about it. Odd, since demons only want to look human to fit in.

A quick glance told me the boy and I were the only two within sight of this monster. Good. Can avoid another mess for the cleaning crew to deal with. They weren't happy with my last mission when I blew up a raging rhino-demon by shoving a propane tank into its ugly trap and setting it, the building, and a good block on fire.

The river monster roared spraying three feet of water in every direction and some kind of greenish liquid I didn't want to think about. It sounded like it still had water in its mouth and throat too so the roar echoed. The boy was cursing and snarling and kicking me now. I shoved him away and stood with my hands ready at my sides.

"Hey! Hey! Don't do it! Just 'cause you have a couple of fancy blades don't make you experienced!"

"Sit down and shut up." I unsheathed my dueling blades and flicked them to catch the light. Yes, I'm showing off. Sue me.

I would have rather had my _katana_ but beggars can't be choosers and I've been trained to work with what you've got. Dispose this mess before it gets out of hand.

With a snarl and a gargle as yellowish foam escaped a dark whole where its mouth might have been, the demon struggled to pull its heavy body out of the river and further towards me and the kid. I left him and stepped slightly to the side. The monster's head turned towards me. Ah, so it knows about the silver.

See silver is poison to demons. It sings a song that enrages them, and the sight of it chills their bones. It's all about the chemistry of their body. It's something to do with their density and resilience. Essentially demons are _deathly_ allergic to silver. But instead of a little rash, silver makes demons as vulnerable as a human and a regular butcher knife. And they instinctively know it.

He throws his arms of organic mess to the ground and pushes himself forward. I have little time to roll out of the way, tuck myself small enough to miss the arm he swings haphazardly, and finally I make a wide arch above my head. The roar is louder, more gargled, and I catch a snip of white fangs. Small, thin, and deadly sharp, his fangs are lined in a pretty little row, and behind that row is another row. So…four rows of needle sharp fangs digging into my flesh…like a piranha…goodie. His plants drop to the ground from my silver. It plops with a wet and sickly sound.

He stares down at the mess as the seaweed shrivels up like a nature special on fast forward. And as he sits there looking equally dumbfounded and enraged – or so I assume because even up close I cannot make out his face – I jump high enough to land on his chest. My feet sink into the greenish muck and for one horrible second I get the feeling it's _pulling_ me in. Then I stab at the demon with both blades. Its bellow is deafening this close with a perfect view of those sharp and pointy teeth, but I only pull the silver out to dig it deep once more. Messy kills are the worse. Black ooze sprays from the wounds; I'm drenched in blood and organic muck in seconds.

When the roaring weakens to a whine, I try to dislodge my feet. Mud and slime hold me tight and I snarl as I shove one blade near my leg to pry myself out. The silver does the trick, surprisingly the demon didn't have the good of a hold on me and I slipped out before Big, Bad, and Ubber Ugly falls with a thundering sound, trembling the ground as he goes.

For the first time, as I check for body damage, I look at what I'm wearing. It isn't the traditional jeans and tank with the trusty jacket for coverage. I'm in some kind of _kimono_…and I'm wearing some seriously awesome boots. Where did I…? _How_ did I end up in this get up?

Questions for another time. Double check your work. Don't get distracted.

I step up to the demon and slice off what I think is the head. The mass rolls closer to the boy and I get a good look at his stunned speechless face. Mouth hanging open, eyes wide, still as a statue, but he isn't looking at the demon. The boy is looking at me!

"What?" I snap. I don't usually work with an audience.

He shook his head. "You…you just…"

"Yeah, it's what I do." Great! Now I have to rationalize what this innocent just saw. Well, I _could_, or I could just Influence his feeble mind to forget it all. It'll leave him with nightmares that might scar him for life – but it'll be easier on me.

"I mean, that demon came out of nowhere and you just…just like that…" I stopped and frowned at him. Uh, _yeah_. I just established that… "I haven't seen anyone move like that since…well, since Kennon!" His dumbfounded look suddenly melted into abrupt laughter.

I should just leave him to the wolves.

Instead I asked, "Hey, was I dressed this way when you found me?"

Without breaking from his laughter he answered, "Y-yeah! You looked like some washed up princess."

I picked at the ruined clothes. "Know of a place I can change?"

Silence greeted me for a moment before I wondered if I was going to have to Influence the boy to point me in the direction of civilization. Instead he shrugged his shoulders as if what he asked was no big deal. "Depends. You gonna let me go?"

With a scoff I turn away. It can't be too hard to figure it out on my own. Without looking back I climbed a small hill and frown at the perfectly flat landscape. It gives me nothing. No buildings, no roads, not signs, no…nothing to tell me where I am.

Well, at least I knew I was in Japan. I remember had to trick my cousin into sharing a secret with me. Shouldn't be too hard. She's a proud girl. And pride is one of the worst sins of all. I'm sure I can't be too far from my aunt's house. I don't really remember actually getting there…but I remember a plane and I remember the crying toddler two rows behind me.

The boy grunts and begins calling out to me again. Could I use him? He knew this "province." He could at least send me to someone who could point me in the right direction. A few quick strides and I stand above him as he struggles. When my shadow covers the sun he looks up at me.

"Lemme go and I'll take you to my city!" His dark eyes are eager and bright. Curiosity, astonishment, and that light of innocence children natural possess stare up at me. I'm not sensing any threat. He knows better than to attack me now.

Another yank and he's an inch from my face, "You try something on me, try to back out of your word, I'll hunt you down. Got it?" He nodded vigorously. The movement hurt my brain just to watch. My switchblade made ribbons of the rag and I pushed him in front of me, held him at arm's length and said, "Lead the way."

**EntertheBandofSlayers**

It isn't a city – no city I've ever seen at least. There are no cars, no lights. No smog, no venders, no homeless bums, no glistening storefronts, no cell phones, no jaywalkers – nothing that makes a city is here. Well, there are people, _lots_ of people.

There are wagons; there are venders with tents displaying their wares on the floor. There are children running amuck – boys with wooden swords and girls with straw dolls – without parental supervision and women jabbering around a well, their colorful _kimonos_ clean and proper and their hair done up and off their neck. The dirt road bustles with activity and commotion. A baker and a butcher argue agreeably like old friends over something the grocer said. An older man calls out to a younger man with an ancient looking rake over his shoulder, a goodbye and a list of supplies to pick up before coming home.

I suppose it _is_ a city. By definition, sure. But I swear it's like I walking through a renaissance fair! Nothing makes sense, and yet it all makes complete sense.

What happened to me?!

The boy turns back nervously, probably sensing something wrong. His eyebrows shoot into his hair. "H-hey! Lady, you ok?" Was I? Ok? I don't know anymore. I mean, there are some empty plains in the countryside of Japan. But this…this place…this _world_…none of it is clicking with my reality.

And I'm not even sure where to _begin_ fixing this in my mind until I find the answers I seek. I almost collapse but the boy catches me. "HEY! Lady! You're gonna make a scene!"

I scoff at him, "I'm covered in mud, river water, and demon blood and you think I'll make a scene?" He flinches at my tone. I tried washing as much of the muck off before we set off. But with my suspicions I didn't think I could leave the kid alone too long before he left me stranded.

"Sorry." He frowns across the street. "We could probably get you a change of clothes…" his tone called for a raised eyebrow. "If we pawned some of that polished iron of yours."

I shoved him away and pushed myself up. Whatever was going on, I could not allow myself to succumb to weakness. "So long as they don't gather the pitchforks, I'm fine." I'd probably have to bathe for a week, but I'll live.

"You 'fraid of pitchforks?" he shrugged and began leading me through the mob. It wasn't smart to walk out in the open the way I looked. As the crowds departed and began their feverish whispering I began to wonder why I chose to follow this brat in the first place. I'm not stupid. My parents made sure to train me in survival tactics. And this freak show of a town would not have been my first stop.

_That's right. This boy works with a traveling attraction. They put on the greatest, most realistic performance of medieval Japan I've ever seen. I don't get out much, and I definitely do not do so for entertainment. How would I know if this attraction was in town or not?I bet Kagome took me here, I'm sure she's somewhere in the crowd just waiting to jump out and laugh at me. _

But why would I have my silver out in the open like this was Kagome's idea?

My reality somewhat secure until notified, I ducked my head down and tried to push the boy faster. He grinned as he glanced at me, "Don't worry! My dad'll love ya! You just killed that demon and you were so cool! He'll get you some new clothes for sure!" All his praise caused the onlookers to whisper more ferociously. I groaned internally. Too much attention.

I caught them pointed at my silver, or the blood, or the iridescent boots that sheathed my skin up over my knee. My flesh began to itch the more the onlookers pointed and gossiped.

"Ya, that demon in the river," the boy continued, his voice carrying as the crowd silenced to hear him; "he didn't stand a chance against you! I mean, you were tired and almost half-dead and he still couldn't touch you." He laughed, a God-awful sound as my head pounded in vengeance. I'm pretty sure I hit my head, or the demon hit it, or the boy hit it when he was mugging me, or when he fished me out the river. Maybe I hit it way before all that.

Why can't I bloody remember?

"I mean it just exploded out of the water and went straight for you, like it _knew _you could kill it, or something."

Without intension my teeth pulled back as I snarled "**Be quiet**." Yelling isn't necessary for my Influence to work. They just need to hear the words. It was like a throwing knife, I aimed and flung my weapon at the weak spot. The brat's mouth slammed shut his teeth jarring together and his face winced at the pain. He turned back to the road and kept walking without another word. His feet stopped stomping in pride like a strutting peacock too. A bonus, I'd say.

It wasn't right, shutting him up like that, but peace and quiet soothed my aching head. And for some reason, perhaps it was because my parents are _not _within hearing distance, I didn't care what the rules about my Influence were. I needed to patch up my head, and figure out what happened to me as quickly as possible.

Shouting, maybe the mob with pitchforks, reached my ears. I let the Influence go and tried to gain some distance from the boy, but when I turned back to check for exits I realized the crowd was letting us pass then closing us in to follow. No easy way out back there.

The shouting grew and so did my nerves, and my headache. I'm probably going to die soon.

_Huh, that feels familiar. _

A small group of men and women descended upon the boy in another second as the shouting became an almost unbearable level. I was about to attack them when I realized they weren't going to rip the boy's arms off, but they were checking for bruises and injuries. The women were wailing in worry as they pulled the boy to their bosoms and passed him along to be smothered with affection by another. The men were all yelling at once, about his idiocy and irresponsibility and "_How could you run off like that without telling anyone_" lectures.

If I was careful I could sneak my way out of here…

"It's OK! That lady saved my life! She saved all of our lives!" I froze and stood as tall as possible – at five-and-some-change that isn't much – as fifty pairs of eyes settled on me, not including the other hundred or so surrounding me. "She killed the demon! I'd never seen anything like it in my life." He grinned at me, "She's a hero!"

No, anything but that.

The crowd erupted as if someone finally flicked on the "_Applause" _sign. They scream and roared and cheered, hands from everywhere came out to touch me, shake my hand, and pat me on the shoulder. I was pushed one way then the other, up and down, side to side, like I was back in the river. My stomach and head protested viciously and my natural evasion to crowds and touching began adding its own chorus of unhappiness.

Before something terrible happened – whether I was about to unleash my silver or pass out I'll never know – a booming voice silenced the mob. I sighed with relief and as the hands suddenly let me go as if my flesh had burned them I fell to the dirt in a heap. Maybe they will leave me be long enough to let me sleep. I could really use some sleep right about now.

But a man stood before me, glaring at me like he spit daggers out his eyes. He was _Tall_, with long black hair he kept in a tail at the back of his neck, his bangs a mess. But that did not hide the white scar against his tan face. A jagged white mark slipped from his hairline, down over his brow, across his nose, and curving through his cheek to slip down his neck and out of sight by his tunic. I forced myself to look past it, at the wide shoulders, beefed up arms, large hands, a strapping and chiseled body – no doubt since the material stretched uncomfortably. Legs meant for running and sprinting, jumping and climbing, to bare feet that were covered in dirt.

His scar did not veil the two _katana_ at his left hip. His eyes were dark, not just dark – they were completely black, no pupil, just solid obsidian. I could still see the white of his eye, so technically I couldn't just simply kill him and run. Well, that and he gave off a very human vibe.

One hand moved purposely to the hilt of one of his swords. A warning. He wanted me to see it. With a grimace I hoped was intimidating I gathered my feet and pushed myself off the ground as I mirrored him. One hand gripping the hilt of a dueling knife at my back. His eyebrow rose in surprise at that.

After his first impression I began to notice this guy was younger than I first thought. Early twenties – _maybe. _But that didn't mean he didn't know how to use those weapons. And the way the crowd reacted to him meant he had authority here. _Great_.

"Brother!" The boy shouted as he ran between us. "Don't scare her. She's injured."

"Shinnen," he voice wielded ice like a blade. I suppressed the shiver at my back with great difficulty. "You brought a stranger to our home."

"She saved my life!"

"You do not know her motivations. She could have done that to win your trust."

The boy glanced back at me quickly before challenging, "She killed the river demon that's been poisoning our water."

"What if she sent the demon in the first place, only to slay it and make it look like she was saving us?" There was pause as everyone turned on me.

And I laughed.

I mean, don't judge me, it isn't funny at all. But, well, sometimes you can't help yourself. You hear something so outlandish that there is no other way to understand the situation, or to cope. And so, I laughed out loud. I fell back, forgetting that this guy could easily kill me. My body disliked the action a great deal, bruises crowing at the pain I put them through, but I couldn't stop myself. Once I got going I couldn't figure out how to tap it down.

Finally the man seized my arm, pulling me face-to-face with him. "What's so funny?"

He shut up the laughter, but my stupid mouth took up where it left off. "You are an idiot!" I don't think anyone ever called him that before. He just let me go, a stunned expression plastered all over his face. And even with the scar he looked mighty handsome as he blanked.

"I didn't send that demon. Heck, I didn't even know it was poisoning anything!"

"It is convenient that you were with Shinnen at the time the demon emerged." Someone in the crowd called out.

I shrugged, "That kid pulled me out of the river right before the demon came at us. I bet he was pissed caused he lost his afternoon snack." Pushing myself to my feet and smirking at the man, "It attacked, and so did I. The rest is only coincidence."

The man opened his mouth to no doubt accuse me some more, when a deep and strong voice carried over the crowd. "There is no such thing as coincidences."

A man, slightly shorter than this hot-head, who looked a bit like an older version of Shinnen was allowed through by the bystanders. There was authority with this man as well. His eyes were of hot chocolate on a cold day, his face weathered by age and crow's feet told tale of a man who loved to laugh. He was built as wide as the young man, and carried a sword at his side as well, the sheath beaten and worn. His attire was cleaner, straighter, and fit better than the other boys. Dark gray hair brushed his shoulders but was clean and slick back and away from his face.

"I must apologize for my eldest son's welcoming. Please understand, he has his reasons to be suspicious. You claim my son pulled you from the river?" He had a gentle, yet firm tone with me. Like when my parents were trying to teach me a new exercise or blocking maneuver.

"Yes." I nodded and folded my hands together in front of me, like I did when I was learning in the training room.

With a soft expression he asked Shinnen, "You pulled her from the river?"

He nodded his head vigorously. "I did! I thought she was dead!" He turned on me suddenly, his eyes wide. _Don't tell them I tried to rob from you! _He pleaded. I grinned. He panicked.

The man nodded once, closed his eyes as he took a deep breathe. When he opened his eyes again he said, "What is your name, girl?"

"Katsumi," I probably should have made something up. But I'm not at my peak. I'm aching and bruised and I need to treat my head wound. Hey, Brightside: at least I didn't forget my name or something important.

"Well Katsumi, let me welcome you to the Purotekuto Providence. I am Ganjou Purotekuto, the leader here. Please, come to my home where I can learn of how you saved my son's life. Perhaps offer you food, shelter, a bath maybe?"

All of that sounded absolutely amazing. "A bath would be great." Ganjou smiled, a softness I had never seen in an adult before. It almost made me turn and run. But the idea of a warm bath kept me planted. "Thank you."

**Okay… So… Did you see **_**that **_**coming!? Muhahaha!**

**How many of you are super pissed? Its ok, please be honest. We are all in a safe zone here. **

**I mean, I did say in the last chapter that it was a turning point, right? Bet you didn't even think she'd lose her memory. To be honest, a looooong time ago when I was making rough drafts and carving out random scenes as they filled my head, I was going to have Katsumi simply **_**pretend**_** she forgot her memories to fit in the with human people of Purotekuto Providence. I mean, you can't just go around claiming to be Sesshomaru's mate to people who praise the death of demons and wear swords all the time. **

**But as the story finally began to have a life of its own, I realized that was stupid and scrapped the whole lie and really got rid of her short-term memory. Pretty great twist huh? Come on, you know you love this stuff. **

**Now, I'm so glad to finally get to these humans! I mean I didn't think I'd be using so many OCs but with a story that only **_**sort of**_** follows the timeline of the actually anime, it is necessary to provide characters that can keep the story going. How am I doing so far? With my OCs I mean. Do they fit the universe well? Am I doing a good job of introducing them and keeping the fanfiction true to the original material? **

**It's great to know you are favoriting or following my story! Now please REVIEW! Even if it's something short like: "UPDATE SOON!" I would very much appreciate it. Plus, if your review stands out or makes my day, I will devote the next chapter to you! **

**As of right now I'm at 117 reviews I would like to get to 150. Do you think you can help me out? **

**Don't be too disappointed if you don't hear from me until summer. This semester will be really difficult. But I will preserver! *Fist Pump* I just need to prioritize and that means more homework and less fanfiction. **


	20. She's missing a Month

**Probably could have done better with the title…and yeah, after FOREVER here I am complaining about the title. Sorry about the LONG wait guys. Thesis papers, 15 – no, 17 – pages, research like nobody's business: it was a bit of a big deal I focused this semester. **

**So, this chapter is dedicated to: **Royal Kitsune**! She digs the whole memory loss. And for that I thank you! **

**This also goes out to **Moonlight Calls**. Since you are the last person to review, you are also the last person to motivate this chapter! I really would have waited until probably **_**the end**_** of May instead of now if not for that little message in my inbox **

**Oh! And I owe **SweetXWhisper **an apology. I couldn't master multitasking for you. Sorry about that, darling. But I hope you enjoy this chapter and expect some updating this summer at the very least!**

**Can you believe we made it to 20 chapters!? That's crazy!**

Chapter 20: She's missing a Month

Oh! To the wonders of a bath! There is something truly magical about being clean. It took three tubs of water, plenty of scurrying about on the maids' part, and a serious amount of scrubbing my skin raw before I mustered up the confidence to present myself to the head of the Purotekuto family. It isn't wise or polite, frankly, to introduce yourself covered in demon blood and mud.

But I refused the maids' help. After being ushered in groggy and dizzy, they stripped me the dispassionate way someone who is just doing their job does. But the leader of the bunch, a matronly woman who probably never cracked a smile in her life and wore her hair in a bun that was way too tight, made an ugly sound when she peeled my _kimono_ away from my stomach. That snapped me into defense mode faster than if a banshee jumped in through the window and started singing musicals. I let them refill the water then I ushered them out like they had the plague.

My body – my disfigured body – I didn't want them to see it. I didn't want them to report it back to their boss. I frowned as I gave myself one final once-over. This unease, I've felt it before.

No. It isn't simply unease. This _shame_…I've tried to hide it before.

Which is strange because everyone back home practically knows about it but no one in Japan should know - not even Kagome. It's my shame. My failure. And I should _not_ be feeling like someone else has seen it. Someone I didn't want to see it.

I don't like amnesia.

I could remember bits and pieces after falling down the well – after Kagome _threw_ me down with her. There was sun and grass and the smell of dirt. Someone in a red robe with white hair. I remember Kagome shooting an arrow and hitting a great, fuzzy shadow. After that I only have hazy things left. A child's giggle, the wide eyes of a curious girl that are completely inked out in a mossy green, a mountain, and a bear, and a whole lot of good it does me.

I turn my hand over, palm up. I remember pain. A terrible pain, of fire racing up my flesh and through my bloodstream, and I can hear screaming and I think it's mine.

But I don't know.

With a huff I run my hands through my hair. It's longer. I keep it at my chin but it's sticking to my neck, the tips barely touching my shoulders while wet. If anything else didn't freak me it out, it was that.

_I'm missing a month of my life!_

"Lady?" the knock at the door is hesitant and fearful. Great, I've frightened the maids.

"I'm ready." Only two stayed outside the door, ready to assist me should I need them. I remember their faces, just in case.

**She'smissingaMonth**

Sitting alone in a giant room as the sun sets is not comfortable. And I'm wearing only a bathrobe, too. I'm sure it has a special name, but I'm wearing two robes bound tight with my silver strapped on wherever I could find a place for it. The sun is setting, the room settling with the noises of a home, sounds I am unfamiliar with.

I don't like missing my _katana_ and one of my throwing knives. To quiet the unease, I pull its sibling out as I wait. The fading sun catches the silver and the ray glints in my eyes. I don't flinch from it. The brightness is a welcoming sight. But it triggers something: _I threw a knife into the wall, and I barely have time to watch its twin sink next to it. _I didn't throw the second knife.

So who did? Who touched my silver?

"Any developments to your condition?" The voice was kind, strong, and only a few inches away from me. I slipped the knife away to hide my jittering. Few can sneak up on me.

_You're having an off day._

That's the truth of it.

Ganjou stood with that same small smile on his lips and brightening his eyes. I made to stand he chuckled as he reached a pillow before me, "Please don't strain yourself." He sat and the room grew quiet. I blinked, he was waiting…for…me?

Oh, right, his question.

I touched the dressing on my head. The maids tended my wounds after I finished my bath. It throbbed, but not unbearably so, at the back of my head. It was what caused my amnesia. Damn wound. "I remember little things, inconsequential things."

Ganjou Purotekuto chuckled at me, "Goodness girl! How could you possibly know what is inconsequential?"

I frowned. "Nothing makes sense. There are voices, but no faces. Places, but no reason for my being there. And," I stared at my hand again, "pain, but no wounds."

We sat in silence again. The maids came in eventually to light lanterns and place more pillows between Ganjou and me in a circle. As they shift about I notice the matron is not among them. I hope she stays away from me.

"I sympathize with you Lady Katsumi," a sour taste left behind after he addressed me by that name. I've heard it before, and I didn't like it. "But you should understand the kind of situation you're in."

I grinned but there is little mirth to it, "I am a stranger. Am I a threat or harmless? Hard to tell isn't it, convenient as it is that I've lost my memories to tell you which?" I pointed at the dressing. "You can't trust the account of your son; he's young and still believes in fanciful things that the real world will pound out of him one day."

I stared at the empty space between us. "Will you cast me out?" It terrified me to think he would. I could survive just fine on my own. I'm not helpless. But there is something about _missing _a whole month of your life that leaves you _vulnerable. _

The man sat still as I spoke. He rubbed a hand at his trimmed beard when I finished. Finally he met my eyes. "You may stay, Lady Katsumi. I would prefer nothing ill-fated happened to you."

I nodded, _I want to keep my eye on you and judge what you are; a threat or harmless. _I'm not stupid. I know when I'm a prisoner. The silver lining is that I get to keep _my_ silver. At least there will be no torture. From Ganjou anyway.

He seemed to perceive my thoughts, "My son will not argue this point. I promise you, dear girl, so long as you do not harm my providence no one here will harm you."

I don't make promises. Promises are cheap. "I'll need more than that. If you will forgive me sir, but I don't know you or what your promises are worth." Then before I could fathom why the words tumbled out of my mouth, "Promises are empty."

Ganjou's dark honey eyes widen for a second before softening into something closer to sorrow. I was taken aback by the emotion, I probably read it wrong. With quick and deft hands, I slipped out my switchblade. Then I flipped the blade, the handle facing Ganjou. "You need to swear it. An oath over something important to you and you alone."

The words flowed easily, and the creeping sense that I've been here before, holding out my switchblade and making an oath. The head of the family stared at the blade, the same questionable gaze in his eyes. "_This_ would convince you?" I nodded and he took the blade. "I so swear on my family's name, the blood running hot in my sons' veins, and the graves of my ancestors that so long as you, Katsumi, bring no harm _intentionally_ to my land and my people then I will do all within my power as head of this family and ruler of this providence to prevent any harm from befalling you."

And just as Ganjou pricked his hand and blood welled up his hot-headed eldest son opened the screen door. He froze as his father finished the oath, closing the switchblade and passing it back to me. I didn't dare look at him as I slipped the silver away. Sitting back, hands folded, looking as innocent as I'm capable of, I let Ganjou settle his son.

"Kennon, sit," his father said, the firm voice of a kind of father I had never known. The man closed his mouth immediately on the command and sat on his father's left, glaring daggers at me from across the small space between. But he did a fine job composing himself after his look affected me very little.

The boy could be heard from down the hall as he chatted excitedly about…myself. I wanted to groan. Who else could he possibly have found who hadn't heard the story? Too much attention and, under Ganjou's eye or not, I'm out of here faster than a bat out of hell.

"She kicked it in the face after that. I mean, who does that?!" the boy enter next with a little girl riding his heals, his eyes immediately finding me and he raced to a pillow next to me. Plopping down he grinned, "Katsumi! You're here! Are you having dinner with us? Did you enjoy your bath? How's your head? Does it hurt? It shouldn't hurt anymore. Grandmother's medicinal herbs are the best there is! She made the ointment for your wounds so they should heal in no time! This is Katsumi, Toppi! She saved my life! Don't worry, Katsumi, you'll like it here. Our Providence is the only place demons wouldn't dare to take over!"

Without meaning to, I slapped a hand over his mouth. "Stop." I realized a second too late what I had done and pull away as if I'd burn my hand. The quietness that ensued next would probably be the death of me.

But Ganjou burst in laughter, a boisterous and booming sound that filled the large room. And even though there were many candles and lanterns it was as if just with his laughter the room seemed a bit brighter. The boy grinned too, "I talk too much, and too fast sometimes. Grandmother always says I talk too fast for her to keep up."

"She says you talk too fast for _you_ to keep up." The young man added as he spoke to his brother, ignoring me blatantly. Good, I prefer his ignoring me than scrutinizing me.

There was a pulling on my sleeve that turned me away from Kennon and to a little girl. She stared at me with bright eyes like Ganju's and wild hair like Kennon's. She seemed frail as she sat with the adults. "Lady, did you really do all the things Shinnen says you did?"

"Toppi! Don't you believe me?"

"You have a habit of making things up," the girl pouted, wise words for someone so young. This was followed by a snicker from Kennon. Leaving the young boy flustered and spitting.

Their arguing was almost warm. As the maids and butlers – the feudal era equivalent anyway – bustled about setting food and bowls in the space in the circle, I realized I might be intruding on family dinner. I thought this was going to be an interrogation.

I didn't eat dinner with my family. They were usually out hunting or patrolling. And the half-breeds never invited me to eat with them. But sometimes, when I had been younger I would hear them laugh and sing and argue much like I could tell the Purotekuto family did. Something began to tighten in my chest.

There was more, I couldn't remember eating dinner with _my_ family. But there was a moment, a small and frail moment, when I let the sounds and the warmth fill my mind and senses. There was another voice speaking and laughing, male and strong and comforting, and a woman's elegant tone full of compassion and kindness. There had been a baby giggling, coos and awes from the man and woman. The same warmth, hidden and smothered for so long by darkness.

But out of the shadows from the candle a body emerged. It stood slowly as if it had been crouching in the shadows all this time, like it had _lived _in the shadows all this time. Then the man, the woman, and the baby were gone. By the snap of fingers they had never existed and I was cold and alone in the dark room.

No, not alone, not completely. I stood face to face with the shadow, but it was so much bigger than me. And pain exploded suddenly in my stomach. I curled over the wound, tried the keep the blood inside, and I looked up just when a hand reached out to me from the darkness.

_FLEE, MY CHILD, FLEE!_

I flinched violently back to the present. It hurt. My stomach hurt so much. My chest ached so badly, I couldn't breathe for the first few seconds. Slowly the light and sounds of the family floated back to me. Sweat trickled down my face and neck and the throbbing at the back of my head seemed to be in tune with my heartbeat. As reality gained clarity, the pain began to reside. _I knew that family_. They had no faces, but they had a voice. The sound of their laughter was crystal clear.

The warmth never came back. I sat alone among the family. Cold.

"You have a shadow chasing you." I looked up at the aged woman staring at me from the entrance. Her eyes were almost yellow in the light as they peered at me through a wrinkled face. But you could tell she had once been very pretty. Her thick hair was intricately twined in a bun at the nape of her neck, a gold pin placed in it twinkling in the lantern light. Her robes were clean, if the color was a bit faded, and fit her body well. She had a cane but she didn't look like she needed it.

Until she took the first step into the room did I realize the old woman was crippled. Her left leg did not move right. I didn't focus on it, but on the woman as she made her way to the pillow on Ganjou's right.

"A shadow?" I prompted.

She grimaced at me. The same look a governess would bestow a bratty child. Disapproval. "Yes, your past is chasing you but you won't let it catch up."

I stared at my lap. "It isn't my past I'm looking for."

"I don't care what _you_ are looking for."

I wanted to snarl at this woman. But instead I shrugged. "Why let a shadow catch up to me?"

She nodded as if this were the right thing to ask. "Why indeed?"

Ok, Cryptic Lady, we are _done_ talking about me!

Ganjou seemed to sense something, as he proved he had a tendency to do, and said, "Mother, this is Katsumi."

"I am, Boketsu," the woman answered, sitting straight and proper, "highest elder of this providence." I gulped. Better not to piss anybody off at this table, yeah?

"And this little snap dragon is my daughter," the man chuckled away the tension as he motioned to the girl sitting next to me.

"I'm Toppi!" She grinned at me. A smile that reminded me of another girl so much like her. Only she didn't have two pigtails, she only had one – which I wasn't sure was relevant. And I couldn't remember a name or an entire face for her either. Just a wide and innocent smile and a giggle that echoed throughout my scattered memories.

Without thinking I patted the girl's head. She grinned wider. "Do I remind you of someone?" she pointed to her face.

I pulled away. I was still too vulnerable here. "I don't know," I answered.

Before it grew too quiet, Shinnen interjected a bit too loudly, "Is grandpa joining us?"

"He isn't your grandpa." Kennon sounded annoyed and tired, a repeated argument brewing.

"He's old enough to be Grandmother's grandpa!" Toppi said, laughing madly at her own joke.

"Toppi," her grandmother warned.

"Oh, Sorry, Grandmother." She sat straighter and smiled at me, "Genjuu is another elder, and he's actually younger than grandmother." Her whisper wasn't very soft and Shinnen snorted at his sister's words. I noticed even Kennon smirked a bit at his sister. His scar didn't damage his almost-smile very much. He should smile more.

"You ungrateful little brats!" an older man, wrinkled as a raison and tan from long years in the sun grumbled as he walked with his cane into the room. He glanced at Boketsu before sneering and turning away from her only to find the last available pillow was the one next to her. This seemed to only upset him more as he shuffled about uncomfortably. As if waiting to see if someone would trade him.

"He tried to propose to grandmother," Toppi said in open honesty only children can pull off.

"I did not!" The man interjected.

"And grandmother turned him down."

"Lying, ungrateful…"

"Four times!" Toppi finished, extremely proud with herself as she beamed at me.

"Stop that make-believe! You're as bad as that brat there!" Resigned to his place at the circle the man shimmied down as he stuck his cane at Shinnen.

"Me?!" Shinnen apposed, "I haven't done anything today!" I smirked at that last word.

"You've been spreading hog-wash, that's what! No simple girl kicks a demon in the head and knocks him out cold with one blow!" he grumbled incoherently before he picked up again, "You're fibs will get you in hot water one day boy!" He turned on Ganjou with a snarl and a growl, "Letting your second son wonder around alone, his head in the clouds, he ain't never going to be worth much to your line."

Everyone seemed to take the man's words in stride. There were subtle affects he had of course, Kennon tensed as he closed his eyes, Toppi bowed her head as if taking a chastising, Ganjou shook his head softly, and Boketsu looked at the man as if she spotted a bug she was about to squish.

But Shinnen looked the most defeated, like a kicked puppy. He was probably going to whimper too.

Well, that just kinda pissed me off. So what did I do? I opened my mouth.

"It didn't take one blow, but he's right that I kicked the demon down." All twelve eyes stared at me in a mixture of stun and awe. Well, Boketsu raised an eyebrow as if she was surprised the bug decided to fight back.

The man stuttered and gaped. Ah, he hadn't even noticed I was here. "What kind of outlandish-"

"The kind of outlandish remakes you'd expect to hear from someone who was there, correcting someone who was not." I folded my hands in my lap and waited for the battle to ensue.

"YOU!" the old man roared, pointing a finger at me as if that made it any easier to accept. "_You're_ the demon slayer, that troublemaker's been spouting lies!"

"He's not a troublemaker," I turned at him just to double check. A kid and a punk maybe, but he wasn't much of the kind of trouble I was used to. He was pretty easy to handle if you knew how to do it.

"And not much of it is lies," I shrugged, "perhaps he over exaggerated a bit, as boys tend to do, but I did kill your demon."

Genjuu was still spitting mad when Ganjou decided to interject. "Let us bless our food before our honored guest entertains us with her version!" His eyes met mine, "When was the last time you ate, Lady Katsumi?" I had been eyeing the food since they dropped if off. I tried to recall. When had I eaten? Where was I when I ate? What I did I even eat?

"I don't remember?" A reoccurring phrase I need to be rid of.

"Then, let us take our share of bread!" I frowned at his remark. That didn't sound very Japanese.

The old man snuffed in indignation as he snarled foully, "Take your prayers and shove them up your-"

"Genjuu," Boketsu warned, the same way she spoke to Toppi. The man sat back, crossing his arms like a child pouting.

Then Ganjou set his hand out, palm up and his mother and son each took a hand as they offered their hand to the person next to them. Toppi took my hand without asking, prompting Shinnen to take my other hand too. I frowned but Toppi but a finger to her lips since Genjuu wouldn't take her other hand. Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

The others did so as well before Ganjou spoke, "Blessed Lord, our Father, thank you for the many gifts you have blessed me with: my wonderful family, the warm food at our table, and this plentiful land. Thank you for our guest Katsumi who saved my son from death today. Please take care of her as she searches for answers. Please bless us with a fruitful summer with plenty of rain."

Look after Enkei and Haikei as they and many other families deal with loss from last spring." Toppi squeezed my hand at that. "But we also offer praise for the blessing you have given Sana and Nanigoto in their twin girls."

Always faithful, we praise your name. Amen."

I watched as the others repeated the last word before they let each other go to snag at the food before them. I didn't move for a long time. Until Shinnen noticed, "Kennon, you're supposed to let the guest pick first!"

Kennon turned to glare at me, but it disappeared as he read the confusion on my face. He nudged his father and nodded to me. Ganjou smiled soothingly, knowingly, "A priest came by our providence several years ago. Not a monk we're used to but a 'Man of the Cloth' he said."

"Back before Grandmother was head of the family." Toppi offered then sat back to let her father continue.

"Yes, yes, many, many years ago. He was gravely injured by demons that were chasing him. My great-grandmother nursed him back to health. He spread the Word of God to our providence, building a temple for our Lord and preached for several years before he continued on his way." He smiled sadly at his plate, "We never learned if he got to where he was going."

I stared at the empty plate in front of me, contemplating his words. "Is everyone a Christian here?"

He smiled, "Almost everyone," he turned to Genjuu sitting at his right.

The old man spat at the head of the family, "BAH! That man ain't no wise man. He's a con man, trying to steal our traditions out from under our feet. Just you see."

"He didn't steal anything," Toppi said as she turned back to her father. She sounded worried.

"No my dear, he didn't steal anything." Then he turned to me, "You say you cannot remember your last meal, and yet you haven't touched a single thing."

I blushed. I'm the guest; it's rude not to eat their food. I took everything that was closest to me piled up my bowl then began to inhale it as fast as possible without coming across as a rabid animal.

**She'smissingaMonth**

In the early gray of dawn I stretched and pulled myself out of my futon. We all went to bed late last night, Toppi and Shinnen failing to keep up with the adults as they nodded off while at dinner. And yet, I'm up at the crack of dawn.

I didn't like it.

My body seemed to be used to it.

Making as little noise as possible in case someone was on guard duty, I gathered my body and pushed myself to my feet and outside. I needed to move. I needed air. No dreams last night seemed to give me any clues as to what happened in the last month. It had been a long shot anyway. I probably wouldn't have believed any of it if I had dreamed every last detail.

I scratched at my neck and cheek. But for some damnable reason I felt like I had dried blood all over me.

The house creaked the way old structures do, welcoming the weight to the floorboards like a friend. It was uncomfortable, the silence. But I slipped quietly along. The comfort of being under a roof, amongst these good people was strange to me. Not unwelcoming, but strange nonetheless.

When I was younger I visited Kagome often, before my parents moved to America. My aunt had always been warm to me, knowing I had been found and adopted. But she never questioned me in her house. She did her best to keep me involved and comfortable – especially when Kagome and I didn't get along, which was almost all the time.

It wasn't until I was eleven that my parents used Kagome as a training tool for me. _Learn how Kagome lies. Learn Kagome's expressions. Can you get Kagome to do something without using your Influence?_ The list of tasks they had me accomplish while I was with my cousin was practically endless. I'm not sure if my aunt ever figured out what I was doing. But I don't think I went unnoticed by her, if that meant she didn't know what was going on but ready in case something did.

Kagome then became less like family and more like training.

Now, that all seems to sicken me.

The way Kennon, Shinnen, and Toppi act towards one another is envious. I can see it now. It doesn't take the bite away from my relationship with Kagome, but at least I can perhaps apologize to her when I see her again.

Not a promising conversation, but necessary.

Of course, I wasn't going to see her anytime soon. I'm a prisoner. I get the expression, a bird in a gilded cage, now. Upside: they let me keep my silver. Probably because it was the only thing that was mine, beside my boots – dragon scale, Kennon had said. His bright-eyed envy did not go unnoticed. I logged the importance of the boots away for another time.

I found Boketsu on the porch smoking as I finally found fresh air. Pink streaked across the pale sky as the elder puffed bluish smoke in contemplation. She didn't flinch as I approached. "You have a change of clothes, here." She patted the grayish lump beside her. "You are free to roam about the providence, as you like, but you may not stray far." Her bright eyes caught mine, "It would be wise not to stray." I took the lump and retraced my steps, offering a thank you only for face-value.

The grandmother needs to be avoided.

After changing, strapping on the silver in all the right places, I smirked as I looked down myself. I felt like a ninja. The dark gray tunic and tight pants were _definitely_ something a ninja would wear. The shirt was a bit snug and pants a bit loose, but the old woman had done a good job.

But I wasn't about to tell her that. Instead I found another way out of the house. There were fields far going in every way, I could get lost in them for a couple of hours. But the clang of steel on steel directed my body into a clearing several yards behind the house. I skirted about the gathering, young men and a few women huddle around two individuals who were going at it like the dual of the century. When one of them began to advance the other fell flat on his bottom. There was some jesting at his expense, before another man stepped between the two.

It was Kennon.

I scooted closer, still a shadow to the others to hear him as he began critiquing the dual. The other man said something snarky and condescending to the man sitting. Kennon swept his leg out and the first landed with a painful thud on his back.

"Do not give up your footing for a kill." The eldest son reprimanded. He did not seem to be enjoying himself. "Demons won't give you the chance so you should take every opportunity at your disposal to kill them." He paused and he turned in my direction. If I hadn't known better I would have thought he was looking right at me. "Only go for the kill if you _know_ you can kill them. Because if you miss," he trailed off. Apparently everybody already knew what he was going to say. But he was teaching and it needed to be said anyway, "You will be dead."

Sounded like something my parents would tell me right before leaving the house. Not "Be safe!" or "Drive careful!" but a little "Don't give the demons a chance to kill you." or a "Remember to watch your left side, you're weak there."

There were a few mutters, the quiet kind – the kind that are in complete agreement with his words but with a hint of scorn in the undertone. Kennon might not be as popular as I thought. I pulled myself to my full height, away from my crouch and began walking away.

I had hoped to join in on some practice, but this was a private lesson. As the outsider it's best not to touch situations like this with a ten-foot pole. Suddenly, there was a shout, followed by more shouts. I turned to see a woman calling out to Kennon, her face full of fury as she pulled her sword free.

_Just walk away. _

Well, you know, I wish I could…but…

_But what? What do you owe him?_

Not a damned thing. Maybe I could just watch. Kennon was twice this girl's size; like a lion facing down a fawn. No contest, really.

"Why _you?_" the girl snarled, venom dripping in her words. "Why do _you_ get to live?" The two men beside her could have restrained her, but they chose not to. "Of all of them, _you_ survive! Is there no justice?"

Kennon seemed unfazed by this outburst. He didn't look to anyone else in the crowd nor did he touch his sword. Either he didn't think she was a threat, or he just didn't think he had anyone on his side.

"My father died, but _you _get to live!" The violence in her tone seemed to feed the others around them. "Good men _died_, but why did you come back?" She swiped at him, the sword moving in a clear arch. It wasn't wide, much to my surprise in her emotional state, but precise and Kennon did move out of the way of it. Yet he still did not draw his weapon.

"I don't know," he said to her anguish. The dead tone probably pissed her off more. But Kennon only ducked and dodged as the woman advanced. At this rate she was going to overpower him. But I kept still. He was a big boy. He didn't need my help.

But one of the men behind him joined in the rage, "I lost my uncle and my cousins! How is that fair?" he's sword slid out slowly as if he wanted the sound of it to be the last thing Kennon heard. It gave the man time to dance out of the way and instinct _finally_ took over as he pulled one sword free to block the girl's blade.

Unintentionally I took a step forward.

There was something wrong here. I mean, besides the words that didn't make any sense. The look in the woman's and the man's eyes as they came at Kennon were dull. The others that stood there and looked on had the same vacant expression. And slowly, more and more of the onlookers joined into the fray.

The crowd became a mob then a horde in its mindless revenge. All of them spout the same words, "_Why you?" "Why you?" "Why you?" _but in different ranges from quiet disbelief to uncontrolled rage. The chaos rose like a wave and hit the shore with a thundering crash.

Two men came up behind Kennon, completely on the defense and terribly shocked at the escalation of his students. When his arms were pinned to his side he managed to fling the one on his left across him and into three that were advancing. He shoved his head back into the second, twisting his body and tossing the man over his shoulder and into the woman in front of him. But there were fifteen against one. And these were his friends.

I rushed without thinking. I knew that look in their eyes. I, as hell, better have! I had seen it on countless people before. These kids were being Influenced!

**She'smissingaMonth**

As the blade came down, steel seeking red blood, silver interrupted the swing with a ringing clash that echoed throughout the field. The very sound seemed to disturb the spell over some of the men and woman. But the few that started it, their faces changed into blood-thirsty murderers as they pulled themselves up and held their weapons at the ready. Well, I had been looking for practice, hadn't I?

"I don't need-"

"Shut it." I snapped. I wasn't going to take any nonsense from this man. I kicked the woman in the stomach with my pretty dragon-scale boots. She flew back and stumbled some of the ones that were confused. I wasn't sure I hit her _that_ hard. With a twist I was out of the way of a sword and knocked the hilt of my knife into a man's nose. He'll be fine; it looked like it'd been broken before.

"Can I kill 'em?" I called back at Kennon who looked like he wanted to restrain me, or hit me or maybe _thank me_, but that might have been my imagination.

"They're under some kind of spell!" he shouted. "Don't kill them!" He jumped and disarmed two men.

I already knew he was going to say that. I skirted around a wild woman and flipped behind her as she tried to pull herself to together. Startled and unbalanced, I knocked the hilt of my knife against the back of her head. Maybe she'll wake up with no clue where she is, too.

I turned and watched Kennon. He was…actually he was pretty amazing. He pushed two back with one sword as he held the third in a choke-hold. If I could have, I would have tossed a knife and be done with it. But he said no killing; and it wasn't fair to killing someone who had no idea what they were doing, right? I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere in the cosmos.

Kennon let the unconscious one go to use both hands to hold his friends off. I stepped up right next to him. "Need some help?"

He growled, "No."

No? _NO!?_ I punched a man who tried to sneak up behind me. Something crunched and he crumpled to the floor immediately. _Well! Fine then!_ I shrugged and walked away, the men paying me no mind at all. In his direct line of sight I sat down and put my chin on hands, my elbows on my knees.

"Are you going to just sit there?" he snapped.

"Yes. Yes I am." He shoved the men back but they charged without hesitation, two more joining the fray. He was quickly put on the defensive again. I caught the unconscious one stir from where Kennon left him then settle again.

"What kind of person just _sits_ there?"

I grinned, "You said you didn't need any help."

I'm pretty sure he knew I was being petty. "I don't need your help." Influenced #1 swung at Kennons head with the force to chop down a tree. Kennon ducked and was tackled by Influenced #2. He growled as he punched the guy in the face then rolled over to pin him down.

"Behind you," I yawned.

Kennon looked back and #1 and #3 held their swords high with both hands, ready to behead both Kennon and the man beneath him if they had to. Striking with his leg, Kennon kick #1 in the stomach then seized the flat of #3's sword and tossed him aside. Lastly, he turned on the one under him and slammed his head into the ground twice, and rolled out of the way as another guy pounced on the first guy, where Kennon had once been standing.

"Impressive," I drawled as I picked dirt out of my nail.

"Stupid girl!" he snarled. "If you're trying to prove that you are no threat to my family, you're doing a very poor job of it."

I scoffed, "_I_ didn't summon any spell to turn your friends against you." I mean, I'm sure it wasn't me. Of course, I've never meet anyone else who can do the things that I can do, that doesn't mean something else _couldn't_ have done it. Right?

And the zombies really had no interest in me at all. If I wasn't in their way they wanted to have no part of me. Interesting…

"And I _asked_ if you wanted help. _You_ turned it down. Wouldn't I just be in the way, then?" Leaning back I basked in his look of utter dumbfoundment. As if a woman talking back to him with complete logic was more shocking than his friends suddenly falling under an Influence and seeking his head on a spike. I swear, _men!_

"_Ask me."_

The words were soft, commanding and firm and coaxing all at once. The voice was rich, powerful, and most definitely male. I could feel something inside me melt at the voice, like muscle memory or something. I turned slightly, knowing no one was behind me. But that voice…as quiet as the wind brushed past my ear as if someone were hovering just over my shoulder.

"_I'm sorry? It is difficult to hear you when you speak to the floor."_

The stirring inside, beginning in my stomach and spreading through my bloodstream like a poison, doubled is pace at the next phrase. There was humor and pride and that manly arrogance of a man who sees what he wants and is just inches from winning it. I gasped at the feeling of familiarity. It doesn't sound like anyone I remember from home. I know better than to place such a sound with Inuyasha or the monk I still have no name for.

Whoever this person is, all I have to go off on is a voice.

I jumped up suddenly anxious and angry all at once. _Why can't I remember!?_

"Are you really going to just sit there and watch me?" I caught Kennon's eye for a second while he pinned one of the guys to the ground. Without thinking I raced to his back and blocked the sword of the man who laid unconscious a moment ago.

Anxious and angry, and I know exactly who to take it out on. I head-butt the guy, breaking his nose, before I shoved him as hard as I could. As he tried to gather his feet under him I kicked him in the face. That put him flat on his back, and hopefully that's where he'd stay.

I took out the last two without any more toying. Even though I just woke up I feel unbelievably exhausted. Dropping the knife to plant itself in the dirt I bashed two heads together hard enough to probably leave permanent brain damage. Good thing no one knows about brain damage just yet.

With a sharp spin I kick another in the stomach this time letting them fly several yards without blinking an eye. I punch three more in rapid succession, in the throat, the ribs, the solar plex, bruising kidneys along the way. Tossing the last over my shoulder and into the ones behind me, knocking them all down like bowling pins.

When I turn to check on Kennon, I watch as all the people who aren't unconscious sat holding their heads like one collective group from a-hell-uva party last night just waking and regretting every decision they made. I huff my too-long hair out of my face, I don't like the way it sticks to the back of my neck. I snatched up my knife as I stood next to him.

"Are you alright?" Kennon stared at me, mixtures of surprise, wary, anxiety, and probably doubt displayed all over his face. When I didn't say anything he reached out to me, his hand taking my wrist. "Were you hurt?"

I wanted to laugh, but everything seems so lifeless all of a sudden. The world melted away, leaving me with a big, gray mess. "You're friends fall under an Influence, attack you, and you're asking me if _I'm _ok?"

"You suddenly fell silent." He frowned at me, tugging at my wrist again.

I didn't see any point fighting him. I turned closer to him and he seemed to eagerly take in my appearance. Taking stock of my messy hair and rumpled clothes he assessed that I was indeed fine. Then he sighed as he let me go. "We need to call my father and gather the elders. Demons are not allowed to use their power on our land."

I was about to make some kind of wise-ass comment, but just as quickly as the men and women attack Kennon they suddenly jumped on me like a pack of wolves. Someone disarmed me, while three men grabbed my arms and shoulders. A sound escaped me, wild and snarling, and I head-butt the guy behind me as I flung my whole body at the guy at my left, taking the guy holding my right arm with us. Sprawled in a tangle of limbs I bit and scratched my way to freedom.

There was more screaming and yelling, and I gave up trying to pay attention to them. One of the men tried to knock me down again and I pulled out a throwing knife. I stabbed him in the thigh once – the shock enough to let me go. When my feet were under me again, every single person who wasn't unconscious was pointing at me, an incoherent noise of accusations and fear. A sneer spread unbidden across my face.

I flicked the knife once, twice, just for show. The sun caught the silver and everyone lulled into an unsteady silence. Who would move first?

"Katsumi?" Kennon held a hand out to me. He stood between the mob and myself. "Put the knife away."

A man flared in retaliation, "She did something to us, Kennon! _She_ attacked _us_!"

"Dammit!" Kennon roared, his authority stung the men and women. "She saved my ass! _You_ attacked _me_! Damn, cowards!" He turned his dark, dark eyes back to me. "Someone go get my father and pick Usui up and get him to my grandmother." His hand still outstretched. We didn't move as one of the men holding his nose and not doing a good job of staunching the blood grabbed the man I stabbed and hauled him away from us. Several people trickled away to find something else to do.

But I was shaking. There was blood on my hand. I didn't hurt, but I _should have_. Some demon just sliced up my hand to shreds with her outrageous pink hair. I mean, what kind of demon uses _hair_ as a weapon?! I curled my fingers into a fist and glared hotly at the man who still stood reaching out to me.

I spat out some blood in my mouth, someone must have hit me square, and then I sheathed my knife and took the two steps between us. With a sharp _thwak_ I pushed his hand away. I didn't need his help.

"I'm sorry," Kennon said and he sounded like he meant it. He frowned sharply as he turned slightly behind him. Due to his outrageously large chest I couldn't see a damned thing. "My father's coming." I judged the distance between where I was and the forest two hundred yards – give or take – behind me. Could I make it before someone shot me in the back?

Before any more ideas of fleeing caught up to my brain I saw a woman on the fringes of the trees. Her long, hair billowed around her frame, like wings about to take flight. I wanted to look more, figure out who she was, but in a sudden glare from the sun I blinked and the woman was gone.

**For those of you who thought I was going to "fix" the whole short-term memory loss in one chapter, shame on you! That would've been **_**such**_** a cop-out! So, that's **_**not**_** what happened. And cookies for those of you who love me nonetheless!**

**We have LOTs of new characters this round, what do y'all think of them? Give me some opinions here! I like opinions; really, I do (But don't be mean, guys). **

**Come on guys; give me some seriously awesome reviews! I LOVE REVIEWS! I'm always saying it's the reviews that motivate me to write. And don't you want a chapter dedicated to you? **

**And I suppose I should apologize, **_**again**_**, for how freakin' loooong it too to get this chapter out. But, I had to tweak bits and pieces and I had to…you know…do school stuff…**

**Anyway, enjoy and I await to hear from you!**


	21. One Shot at Redemption for the Innocent

**And then the school semester was over and there was MUCH rejoicing!**

**Indeed, my fans, rejoice and be glad, for I will be updating more often and you will be entertained to your heart's content! Yay! Alright so, warm fuzzes are over and done with and I am off on another fantastical adventure! **

**This number is for **EvilVampireDucky **for loving Katsumi as much as you do. There's always some apprehension whenever you introduce an OC, but Katsumi has been getting so many compliments! Thanks for the review!**

**Also, a little shout-out to **animelover56348**, you got me to over 150 reviews! I really couldn't wait to hear your thoughts on **_**every **_**chapter! Really, that was so cool. But those 3 things you're worried about, don't be. I **_**really**_** hate clichés just as much as you do. So, no worries; just trust me. I've got this. **

**Ps: I think you're gonna like this one.**

Chapter 21: One Shot at Redemption for the Innocent

If you had told me a month ago that I would have been where I was now, I'd have hit you. Maybe broken a bone or two, just for good measure. I'd don't really like being told I could end up in feudal Japan, locked in a wooden cell, missing a month's worth of my life. But honestly, who do you blame when you find yourself looked up in a room with no windows and only one door? And you cannot reach that door because you are tied up with leather straps, hands behind your back and connected to a metal hook in the floorboards. It isn't like this is the _worst_ I've been put through, but the odds are stacked against me and I'm not much of a positive person at the best of times.

My knees are aching something fierce, my back protesting the slightest movement I made, my chest growing stiff in the awkward position. Things could always be worse – the morning mantra of my parents. I'd been in here a solid thirty minutes. The screaming outside the door had finally dimmed – most of it between the woman who first attacked Kennon and Ganjou Purotekuto. Sometimes I could hear Kennon's deep voice silencing the woman with but a word. Every now and then I'm pretty sure Boketsu interjected a word or two as well.

But Kennon left ten minutes ago, and the only thing separating me from a gruesome trial was a frail wooden door.

I sighed, the action causing pain but I shoved it aside. The crowd that had been inflicted by an Influence swore that _I _had provoked _them_. _I_ had attacked Kennon. Ganjou seemed like a patient and wise man, would he listen to the fifteen people of his village or me, a stranger? It wasn't like I had much to back up my case, my word against theirs. Kennon's account might buy me some time, but I know better than to put my trust in him. He looked wary – and that's putting it lightly – when he dragged me away from the training ground and into this separate shack away from the village. Hardly said a word as he tied me up and left me here, not even a backwards glance before the door was bolted.

But the ill-fated time of my demise was not yet. It could wait. I had time. So I relapsed back to the battle, wiping away the men and women, pushing aside Kennon as he prowled across the fight. The fear and the anxiety of the battle and the last twenty-four hours set aside on a shelf; I'd deal with it eventually, I promise… Darkness the only thing left, I focused on the voice that practically _purred_ at the back of my skull.

"_Ask me."_

It was unfamiliar, and yet spoken with such intimacy I could not deny it. There was a connection between me and the speaker. It was small, only a voice in the thickening darkness, but it wasn't entirely useless – like a lighthouse shining through a raging storm. Focus – wasn't that what my parents had been shoving down my throat?

Alone, secluded, and shut-off I settled deeper into the darkness reaching out randomly at scattered pieces of my mind – like plucking shards of glass off the floor.

I remembered a she-demon with wildly pink hair; we circled each other, crowded by demons as they watched with bated breath. A sport? No. A duel. Yes. I had engaged in a duel with this she-demon. And from what I was remembering she was winning…

"_Filth! Monstrous filth! What have you done?!" Tayorinai screamed as she clutched at her ragged strands, one side of her flowing hair was two feet shorter than the rest. "Human whore! Pathetic little rat!" I slipped my dagger away and held my katana at the ready. But my hand hurt and my shoulder was stinging madly and the rest of my arm was sticky in hot blood. I couldn't let her get another hit like that. My side reminded me that there was more than hair to worry about. She was crazy fast. I needed to say close to her, but I couldn't let her hair touch me._

_With practice honed from childhood, I pushed the pain aside._

_Her rage bubbled over and she screamed, "SAY SOMETHING YOU STUPID HUMAN!" Wind rushed and threatened to brush me aside like I weighed as much as a scrap of paper. I held my hands up and tried to fight it. Something warm and wet trickled down the sides of my head, but I focused on the maniacal laughter that seemed to come from all around me. The wind changed direction and with near panic I managed to plant my feet to keep my ground. _

_I hated that laughter. _

Opening my eyes I glanced at my shoulder. There was no blood soaking the fabric there, but I remembered the pain now, a dimmed-down version of it as if it were someone else's pain I was sympathizing with. Shame I couldn't looked at my hand. I clenched both into fists. No blood there either and no scars as well. That brought a sharp frown to my face. I should have the ugliest hand in the world from that fight. She had practically ripped the flesh right off the bone! I spent a few minutes stroking my hand, my fingers, the flesh between then, my palm and the back of my hand. Nothing. Only smooth skin. Not even a cat-scratch.

Focus…sighing, and ignoring the sharp pain it caused, I closed my eyes again.

_Crossed at an X I managed to stop the mass of hair but the loose strands stabbed at me in a million different places. I couldn't stop myself this time. The pain caught fire and I screamed as she ripped her hair out at a terrible angel. Blearily I watched the blood gush and rain to the floor in a puddle. I had always had God-awful nightmares of dying in my own puddle of blood!_

_I glared up at the she-demon. Oh, now I'm done playing. _

_I rushed her. Usually I don't do it considering there is little control to it, but she pissed me off now. Her sick smirk slowly melted to the closest thing to fear something like she can feel as I jumped and landed on her back. As we both fell to the floor I stabbed one knife deep into her shoulder blade, and as she cried out to call her wind I grabbed a bloody fistful of her hideous hair. When she realized what was about to happen next her sick eyes widened a fraction and I cut all her hair off. _

_Stunned she landed face first into the floor and I rolled off her back to stand out of arm distance. In a moment she sat up and stared in awe at the piles of dust around her. Then she sobbed. Her wet cries broke and echoed eerily in the silence of the room. She said incomplete words, her breathing hitching as she reached out to what was left of her power. I took two steps in quick, jerky, painful movements then I swung. _

I could still hear the hollow _thunk_ as the she-demon's head hit the floor when I opened my eyes. Blood, sharp and tangy, coated my mouth, but when I spit it was clear. Tayorinai. I remembered her name. And as soon as I had, it was as if I hadn't forgotten her at all. The former Lord of the East, the bitch had called me out, snarling and prancing as if the world waited on her next breath.

But why was I with the East Lord? Why had she requested the duel? Pieces were still missing. She was jealous, a blind man could have seen that much. Her rage was specific to me and something she thought I took from her. But the _what_ – the catalyst wasn't there. I had a jigsaw puzzle laid out before me, but all the important pieces weren't there – gaping black holes that left the picture without substance.

With no small amount of effort I shoved my legs through the hole my arms made to allow my arms to lay in front of me. I collapsed afterwards, spent and wishing for a bed. Why am I so damn tired? Amnesia is exhausting, apparently. A big, four-poster bed in a stone room came to mind unbidden and I waited to see if it would take me somewhere I wished to go.

Before I could decipher the meaning of the bed the door opened, revealing Ganjou with an unreadable expression across his face. I huffed at him, unbearably tired, before I pulled my body into a sitting position. It hurt so much, the fight from before mixed with the exhaustion of missing a chunk of my life and the phantom pain of a time I shouldn't have forgotten. But don't let anyone tell you I don't have manners.

The head of the providence glared at me, an odd expression from a man with the most comforting laugh. With quick movements he grabbed the back of my neck and ripped off the bandage around my head. He got hair on his way and I cried out in alarm before I kicked him in the inner thigh. I had aimed slightly to the left, but he was out of the way before I could hit him where it'd count. The shock of hitting so close made him shove me to the floor and back away. I had a few choice words for him when he came at me again and shoved my face to the floor, I missed the metal hook in the wood by millimeters.

He moved my hair from one side to the other, his movements didn't hurt now. His fingers seemed to be gentle with me subdued and I think he was looking for something. But the only thing back there was my head-wound. The damn thing that caused me to lose my short-term memory. Five tense minutes past before Ganjou pulled back and left me alone again. Groaning I pulled myself up again. The bandage was left in a pile next to me. There was a brownish stain along one small part, dried blood. For a head-wound there was much less staining than I thought there should be. Usually head-wounds are a bitch to staunch.

Frowning sharper I realized I might have been bleeding when I meant Shinnen, but not when he took me to his village. Maybe the blood clot after the fight with the river demon? Never happened before. But when you're under pressure and running on adrenaline and…and maybe if I wasn't so tired I'd have tried harder to believe that lie. The more I thought about it the more I became certain I never had trouble with head-wounds in the past, not ones that I could account for anyway. And my memory from before my trip down the well was pretty intact. Hell, I'm a fast healer but this seemed to be stretching it a bit.

Impossible to check the wound with the angle I'm in. But there doesn't seem to be any kind of ach at the back of head like there should be. The rest of me hurts, bruises on top of bruises. But I think I'm just tired. So bloody tired. So damn, bloody tired it isn't funny. When was the last time I slept? Not last night – last night doesn't count. I hardly slept last night as I imagined Kennon creeping in and slicing my throat while Boketsu watched.

The image of the big, four-poster bed loomed in my mind again. The room was of stone, a medieval bedchamber that holds no familiarity to it. But I've been here before, at another time when I ached all over. I was nursed in this bed.

A spot between my eyes began to sting. Remembering hurts too.

_So start at the beginning_.

Oh, good call conscious. Why didn't I think of that?

Last thing I remember clearly was laying on my back staring up at the stars. I remembered my cousin _throwing_ me down her well, the prank she tried to play, Inuyash the half-demon, the two humans that look to my little cousin for leadership, the little fox demon sitting on Kagome's shoulder, and their story about the sacred jewel shard.

I was tired of the boisterous group, seeking solace. The grass tickles my cheek, the only bare part on me since I have a tank top, an over shirt, and a light jacket on to hind my dueling knives. The stars are bright without the pollution of the future clouding the ozone. I remember laying there in awe in the silence under the expanse of the bright stars.

Well, that's a good, solid visual. So how did I manage to go from normal to _kimono_?

There was an…unsettling…presence.

…_A horrible sound, worse than a screaming baby, worse than nails on a blackboard, worse than the screeching of tires on pavement rose and demolished the calm serenity of the night. It didn't stop but an echo answered nonetheless and rose to create and ear bleeding crescendo. Unconsciously I moved to shield my ears even though it would have done nothing to ease the pain._

_Then I saw the creature causing all the agony. It looked like a snake, only taller than any tree and thicker than the houses of the village. Its jaw was wide and reminded me of a Venus flytrap. Complete with serrated teeth and all. The awful screeching continued, even though the monster's mouth had closed. A voice, deep and dripping with malice spoke within the sounds of pain. I barely hard it. _

"_I must have the jewel! I must have it! I must devour and destroy and demolish all in my way of obtaining power!"_

I jerked away from the memory, my body protesting something fierce. I remembered the snake demon well and the horde that followed. Demons, monsters, _nightmarish_ creatures attacking from all sides – the way my cousin's arrows could fly, Inyasha's brute force that caused more damage than good, the monk's spell casting. Miroku – his name was Miroku – and he was a devilish man with a hand possessing a mind of its own. I owed him a slap to the face the next time I see him…

There was a woman, too. Beautiful, powerful, with a giant boomerang. Sango, the demon hunter. The woman with the sharp eyes and the pretty little face, and the terrible _longing_ for something beyond the hunt for the next kill. A woman I felt immense uncertainty about, all I ever _lived_ for was the hunt.

They battled and suddenly the jewel was in my possession. I have it in my hands in one second, in the next I'm fleeing with a ravenous horde hot on my heels. After that…darkness, followed by sunshine and the sharp tang of blood on my tongue.

No. No. Not just on my tongue, there is blood everywhere. A pool of it surrounding me, chunks of demon bits everywhere – hanging in the trees and tossed about the ground, flung some distance away and laying forgotten mere inches from me. So much blood you can't even think, you can't breathe for it will taint your next breath. It congeals around my legs, clings to my jeans, stains my arms and has dried on my face.

_I scratched at my neck and cheek. But for some damnable reason I felt like I had dried blood all over me. _

Coughing I shrink away from the memory. Is it real? Is it mine? The movement hurts but it's a dull feeling compared to the hysteria trekking its way across my mind. The rest of the world spins and blurs and I keep coughing to rid my mouth of the taste lingering there. So much blood. And not a drop of it is mine. With each gasp I remind myself the blood isn't here now, the scent is of only wood and my own fear. The bits and pieces of demons are not within my sight, only the bare walls and the single door.

But none of it helps. I keep coughing; keep crouching in on my body. The smaller I am the less of a target I am. Before I can stop, tears gush down my cheeks. The roars of the snake demon's echoing rage drowns out the sound of my sobs, the stench of dead demons and dried blood fill my nose and mouth until I'm drowning in it. The sight of Tayorinai's strange hair and ugly face blot out everything else, no sun, no wood, no _anything_. Nothing left but a dark and smoothing voice…

"_Ask me."_

**OneShotatRedemptionfortheInnocent**

I wake up in the same room, no widows and only one door. But I'm not tied up anymore, and there's a bowl of rice and vegetables nearby. My stomach growls in protest. I don't think I'll ever eat again. With a groan I manage to sit up. The light from under the door is faded and flickering – fire, nighttime.

I slept the whole day?

That isn't so surprising.

The reminder of blood and death is still fresh in my mind. But things are a bit clearer. Well, least murky than when I woke up. So, really, not that clear at all. But I remember Tayorinai and I remember our little duel and that I won. I slayed a Lord – the capital "L" kind. There had been some really unhappy people about that I'm sure.

Kagome and I had been separated, but I saw her again. I managed to give her back her jewel. I went back to my own time, too. But that was a critical analysis on my part: I didn't have the jewel anymore and I had only brought my twin knives with me this first time while now I had everything.

Well, everything but my _katana_ and one of my knives.

Well, technically I didn't have _anything_ on me. Kennon was ordered to take everything, even my switchblade, before they threw me in here. Took my pretty boots, too, bastards.

But, there were still so many holes, so many lost pieces calling out to me I couldn't begin to tell you where to start. And not much of what I was remembering match to what I was feeling. Now that my hands weren't bound I examined them. No scars. No evidence at all that I had tangoed with Tayorinai. Not so much as a scratch proved that the memory was correct.

Was it a lie? Something someone implanted?

But the pain was sharp. I could still feel the razor edged strands ripping flesh. You don't just make that stuff up, right? Unless I'm a little more broken than I thought.

What happened to me in the last month?

The door creaked open as Ganjou and Boketsu stepped into my room. Both had a hand on a hilt, both had a hard edge to their gaze when it landed on me. Something unsettling chilled the air as they stood before me, looking down at me. My stomach clenched then dropped out of the room. Coward.

For a long moment no one said anything. And I sat there wondering how the death penalty is issued in feudal era Japan. Beheading? That would be easy, and clean. Appropriate too. Simply ironic if they did it with my own blade. Yeah, probably a beheading, public no doubt.

"Girl, pay attention." Boketsu snapped, in her matronly and disapproving fashion.

With a great deal of effort I withheld my snarl.

"Katsumi, who are you?" Ganjou started. My eyes narrowed before I could pull up my poker face.

"I thought that was for _you_ to figure out." Keeping your voice even while you await certain death is tough work, but not impossible if you've had parents like I did.

Ganjou does not approve my sarcasm. Less does he approve of my sudden coldness and suspicion. Not sure what he was expecting when I have the two most important people of this providence with my life in their hands standing before me with caution and a hint of fear.

After another long pause stretched out before he started again, "My son says you saved him." He frowned sharply, twisting his features into something ugly – ugly didn't look right on the man with the warm laughter. "He tells me the young men and women training with him were under some kind of…" he struggled for the term, "spell." The word left a bad taste in his mouth.

I nodded, waiting to see where they were going with this before I said something offensive again. They hadn't killed me yet; so far, so good.

"Why weren't you affected by the spell?" the old woman asked.

I looked at her, weighing my words and buying my time. Finally I shrugged, "I'm not a part of this community. These kids seemed to have some sort of _dislike_" – and I'm using the word loosely – "for Kennon that I do not share." I stretched my legs out as I pressed the back of my head to the wall. "Perhaps that was who the spell was intended for, people who harbor animosity towards your grandson."

They stood there absorbing my testimony for a few minutes – a few long, damned minutes – before sharing a _look_ with one other. You know the kind I'm talking about; the _look_ grown-ups share when a child asks a difficult question, the _look _of two people about to lie to you. Ganjou turned toward me but spoke to the woodwork in front of me to the side of my knee, "And you jumped into the fray, disarming fifteen, highly trained people to rescue my son?"

I shook my head, "Kennon managed to do take care of most of them, I only protected his back." I smirked at the spot Ganjou was looking at, "He has a bad habit of turning his back to the wrong foe." He went for the weaklings before taking care of the major threats.

Boketsu raised one, thinly arched eyebrow then huffed, "And not a scratch to your name," she waved a hand as she gestured to all of me.

"Not a scratch," but it meant differently to me. I didn't have a single scratch on me. Not from all the scuffles in my life. Nothing to prove I was a walking, demon-killing machine. Well, nothing except the ugly mark across my midsection. _That_ seemed to be the _only_ mark on me.

_You've always been a fast healer, Little One. _My father would say in that quietly amazed voice. But he'd be examining my arm or leg as he said it; the words not necessarily to me but _at _me. Something to be poked and prodded and ignored. No feelings, no desires, no _anything _human about me.

Wow. That was a morbid thought.

Ganjou sighed heavily, bringing me back to the topic at hand. "Katsumi, you are a mystery." By the sneer of his mother this was not a compliment. "But you have proven yourself quite the extraordinary woman. First you save my son and my village from the demon poisoning our water supply, and then you protect my first born against children under a spell-caster's charm – without killing anyone from my land as well."

"Ganjou…" his mother warned.

"If not her, then who _will_?" Another _look_, full of frustration over a topic discussed with a fine-toothed comb, before he turned back to me. "Katsumi, you must understand you are in a difficult position-"

"I hadn't noticed," I rubbed the back of my neck.

"-And you have left us with little options." He sighed again, his age showing in his slumped shoulders and weary eyes.

When the silence stretched uncomfortably long again I interjected, "What exactly am I being accused of, Ganjou?"

He hesitated, giving his mother the option to answer, which she did, readily. "We live in troubled times, girl. Our lands are in constant peril from the East and the West. Both struggling to rule the last unstained human providence." She sneered down at me, but I couldn't muster up the effort to care. "Suddenly you show up, with only a name to yourself."

"And my silver, and my awesome boots. Don't forget what's mine." I really wanted to be sure they hadn't taken my only possessions as trophies.

Her eyes narrowed, "Yes, the strange blades and the dragon-scale boots. My mistake." Too much condescending grandmotherly venom is enough for one day. I think I'll stop interrupting her now.

"And now the Siren of the Forest is on our doorstep, after years of silence and peace."

I'm not sure if there are Sirens on land, their a hydro-originated species and I have never dealt with them personally, nor has anyone from my troupe. But I know the basics: they're territorial with pack tendencies – sticking to hunting in groups and living in communities. But they _only _stick to water. _Ever_.

Maybe my ancient Japanese is rustier than I thought?

"A demon as invaded our providence," Ganjou spoke up again. His voice shook with so much emotion I clamped my trap for the remainder of his speech. "She has done very little to us, made her presence practically nonexistent, but it seems she has decided to encroach upon the people who reside here."

"The river demon was one of her henchmen," Boketsu picked up, clearly unhappy that she was sharing the information with me. "She sent him here to test our defenses. With him dead it seems she has decided to take matters into her own hands." Her lips pursed for a moment, the hardened leader of old showing in the gray of her skin and strain of her eyes. "You have great skill, girl. Greater than any warrior I have witness." That must have wounded her pride quite a bit to admit.

"We believe that with your skill-set, you may be able to find redemption in the crimes against you."

That last comment stung, I snapped, "You never actually _said_ what you thought I was guilty of." Neither one answered me. So they don't believe Kennon. Thanks anyway, handsome.

"Find the demon living in the forest, Katsumi. Kill her and free our village." His smile was sad and cold. "And then you will find peace."

Peace? When had I ever wanted peace? I wanted my damn memory, Mr. High-and-Mighty! I wanted the last month back! Hell, I'd settle with a face to that dark voice!

I don't say any of this for obvious reasons. Instead I glare at the two of them, the kind of cold and calculated stare that has been the last thing many a demon ever saw. Ganjou physically flinched. Boketsu's eyes widened. "Take your peace. I do you a favor and then I'm _gone_." I shook my head when they tried to jump at a counteroffer. "No. I _really_ don't need you or your damned providence. I murder a demon then you never hear from me again. _That_ is how this plays out." With effort, effort I make damn sure they don't see, I stand to my full height.

"I'll need my silver, two day's supply of rations, a fresh set of clothes, a map of the forest if you have one, and my boots."

**So this would be one of those "Transition Chapters" where not a whole lot happens but is necessary to get from one point to the next. Hope that doesn't disappoint y'all. I mean, it is **_**necessary**_**. And hey, before Katsumi just did things. Now she's analyzing her own life, gaining perspective. That's nice – but we all know I'm biased. **

**Check it out: 2 chapters in one month! Go me! How do you like the treat of school being over? I have summer school coming up of course and 2 jobs I have to juggle, but I'll try not to do what I did this spring. That was kinda under special circumstance anyway, I had to write a 17 page paper. Well…It had to be 10 pages and just turned up being 17…**

**So yeah, that 5 month lapse should happen again. I hope you enjoyed the progress and I can't wait to hear from you! Review and tell me your thoughts. Even if it's something short, leave me **_**something**_**!**


	22. Remembering Nothing

**After so long I must offer this chapter to:**

WorldWithOutLogos **because you were the last to review **_**and**_** you said my writing was "perfect" and that totally made my day! Plus that bit about "flipping tables" made me laugh! **

**So, there you go **WorldWithOutLogos** hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much!**

**Ps: Not to offer any spoilers, but I think **_**all**_** of my readers will be happy with the ending on this one!**

Chapter 22: Remembering Nothing

The world is full of damned irony. Just look around you – it's there. I couldn't see it at first. Not past the training and the demons and the blood; not past the next lesson, the next mission; not past the cold, calculated mess of my life. Reflecting on the bits and pieces of what I could collect of the last month – and that's not a whole heck-of-a-lot – I've come to the conclusion that my life wasn't all that right.

Big shock, I'm sure.

There is something to be said, of course, that I have lived my life to the best of what my parents made me to be. I'm a killer. Plain and simple. Only, I never considered myself a killer before. Executioner…It sounds like a fancy title, and maybe that's all it is. A title and a license to murder. But things like Wulx, and the Barnaby Brothers, and that horde of demon-locust, things like _that_ need to be executed. They murdered and plundered and ravaged the earth, so if I hadn't killed them they would have killed hundreds.

A pair of eyes stare up at me in the back of my mind, the softest whisper as I raised the sword…_Thank you_…

Whatever I am, I'm not the hero.

And as for the irony of that statement, I glare at what I've been handed by Fate.

The beauty of the forest lay behind me, the colorful flowers blooming – their petals spanning as wide as they can – and the trees stretching high, as high as they can go. Bright green leaves rustle in the gentle, warm breeze. Birds singing morning songs as furry critters scurry about in curiosity; my presence not disturbing them in the least. Brilliant light pierces through the thick canopy and the wildlife is cheery and lively and reminds you of an opening scene in a Disney movie.

Slowly, keeping both eyes open wide, I turn to look at the forest in front of me. The earth is dry and gray beneath my shiny, newly-washed boots. The trees are rotted, their stench finding me easily but only when I face them can I smell it, and they slump over on themselves as if they can't take the weight of their barren branches. And even though more light should be showing through the skeletal fingers of creaking limbs, it's as if this side is basking in the sliver of a moon – hardly enough light to see the hand in front of your face. No bird's song reaches here. No scuttle or scurry of movement from furry little things cross my sight. Nothing grows, not even the weeds. The air is cold and untouched and unwelcoming.

The stench of rot and the overwhelming burden of foreboding weigh heavily on my shoulders. That's the way I need to go. By the mark on Ganjou's map, the demon was last spotted past this point. If you needed irony, there's your helping for the next year or so.

Biting my nail, they were getting too long, I contemplated my options. I could try to skirt around the Obvious Land of Death, and back-track to the spot on the map. That would take time and resources I do not have. Or I could plow right through it. Which was direct and more my style. But the openness would leave me exposed. A neon target just waiting for a trap to find her.

Or, and stick with me here, I could send the _man_ through the darkness while I skirted around.

Kennon was a quiet man for someone of his size. And he followed orders like a soldier would to a commanding officer. The stubborn set of his jaw and the iron grip of one hand on one of his hilts the only signs that told me he was just as unhappy at the situation as I was. But I was forced to come on this goose-chase, he _invited _himself.

Standing at the edge of the forest, the head of the providence, his counsel of elders, and a handful of children curious and quick enough to slip away from their parents saw me off. Eyes narrowed at the trees, their awareness trained on me. The loner, the stranger without a history, heading for whatever dark terrors that plagued this village for an age. It sounded like some old western film, and I'd ride off into the sunset alone while they celebrated their new freedom.

Didn't sound so bad when worded like that, right?

Minus the dark terrors and the part where I might just die before the sunset scene actually happens, I could get my happy ending.

There was a scuffle, mutterings of disapproval and shock. I hadn't done anything, yet. But when I turned around I saw Kennon heading my way, his dark eyes caught mine as his full lips pulled into a small smirk – the same one I say at dinner, the way that made something stretch and unfurl itself inside me. He really did have a nice smirk. The scars weren't so bad – well, no they were, actually. But on him, they looked…right.

"Kennon," Ganjou warned with a fatherly stern face.

"Father," The young man put a hand on his shoulder, "she will need someone who knows these woods."

"No." The word was spoken softly, holding the weight of authority as if he has shouted.

But Kennon kept his smirk, slightly sad now, as he turned to his grandmother. "Permission to speak plainly." She nodded before he continued. "I have spent many hours deep in prayer. Katsumi is off to defeat the demon that harbors in the forest. I evoke the Right of True Witness!" There was a painful stillness. The kind that settles in right before a terrible storm.

"You know what that means, boy." Bokestu looked about as pained as I had ever seen her. But she kept her emotions in check.

"I do, Grandmother."

She turned away to speak to the other elders and they bickered in quick, heated seconds before she stood before the young man again. "The counsel allows the Right to bear fruit." Ganjou exploded into a fit of rage and sorrow as he tried to convince his son and then his mother to remove the Right. Kennon did not heed his words, instead walking up next to me to peer into the forest as well.

"What does the Right of Witnesses mean?"

He chuckled, a little nervously, "The Right of True Witness means, that since I am the next heir I must bear witness to your penance. I have to see you kill the demon and I have the responsibility of keeping you alive until you do." I frowned. But it seemed little was to be done about it now. I did not need a babysitter, and if this demon could use an Influence like myself then he was pretty much useless at best and a dangerous diversion at worst.

After two hours of solid silence and heat and trees, I realized Kennon did not appreciate the silence as I did. He was nervous but he did a fantastic job of keeping it hidden. He dark eyes were clouded with agitation, his free hand fisted at his side as the other gripped the strap of his bag of rations with white knuckles. Shoulders were tense, his face frowned sharply, not as pretty a face as his little smirk.

"Why are you following me?" I started, not thinking what to say only that he needed to say something.

Chewing his words over, he finally answered, "You should not have to face this alone."

The chuckle escaped before I could catch it. "Really? This is chivalry, then?"

"No. I don't think anyone should have to face a demon on their own. It is only God's will that will see us through."

I waited for a moment longer before I asked something else without thinking. "Why do you think those people attacked you? They all seemed to have one thing in common." When he didn't take the bait I continued for him. "What did you do?"

"_I lived_." The words were bitter, vile things that were retched from his mouth in anger, anger directed at me. Those dark eyes glittered in heated agony for a second – a second too long – before he caught himself and looked away in shame. Quietly he continued, "There was a demon raid on our providence last season. The Eastern demons invaded our land and many were killed." The impassionate way he described it to me betrayed how much he was affected by it.

"The men and women who could fight did so. My mother and I lead the charge because my father was ill from the poison in our water supply. My little brother and sister were also ill. But my mother had to be strong for our people." His voices strained and chocked at the end. I gave him a moment to collect himself. When he spoke again his voice was the deadened tone he had when he confronted his Influenced comrades.

"We fell into a trap. The demons got the jump on us and we were force to retreat. Only they had a small group of their most ruthless beasts waiting for us. I watched them rip apart my friends and their parents, men and women I had known all my life died gruesomely – suddenly."

Another long pause, longer than the first. I pretended the tears that fell silently down his scarred cheeks weren't there. "My mother was one of the last to die. She put herself between me and a blade and she was impaled while I received a slight pinch in the stomach." He shoved the hem of his shirt up, cleverly wiping his eyes as he displayed the mark above his belly button. The tan skin and smooth muscles there did not distract from the pale pink blotch of new skin. It pooled in a blob before thin tentacles stretched out in all directions. Strange scar, must not have been a sword that stabbed him.

He hid it and his face appeared clear again. "I pretended I was dead for a long time. When the sun rose again I gathered my mother's broken body and carried her back to my village."

Cinnamon eyes sought mine and I stood still, letting him stand before me, resting his huge hands on my shoulders as the tension seeped out of him and into me. "I lived because I was a coward. They died because they were warriors. That is why those men and women attacked me."

Blood filled my vision for a moment. Blood, blood everywhere, and not a drop of it is mine. I stifled the cough tickling the back of my throat as the scent overwhelmed me. "You were not a coward, Kennon." Before he could flinch away, I seized a wrist to keep him in place. "Dying would have dishonored your mother's sacrifice."

For a long time we didn't say anything. He turned away first and we walked again in less straining silence. Until we reached the creepy bi-polar part of the forest.

"We're going to head that way? Doesn't look safe." I'd have said something sarcastic and vile if I figured he'd understand the phrase. It isn't fun referencing Sherlock Holmes when no one knows who he is. Ire and bitterness would get us no closer to the she-demon, but maybe it would make me feel better. But I doubt it.

No one really seems to care what I want.

All I wanted was the last month of my memory back, and gallivanting around an obviously cursed forest was _not_ getting me any closer to _my _goal. But _nooooo_. Let's go demon-hunting! Tra-la-la-la-la!

Damned Ganjou made me swear to find the demon and stop its shenanigans. Probably thought I was going to turn tail and run like a coward – or a sane person. I mean, what did I owe him and his son and his stupid providence anyway? Some of those people tried to kill me!

Well, they were under an Influence so _technically_…Blah. Blah. Blah. Let's just cut to the chase. This she-demon that's been living in this forest could Influence people. And _that_ piqued my interest. As far as I knew I was the only one capable of Influence. And I wasn't even sure I could do it to fifteen people, out of sight and out of mind. I had to be close enough for them to hear me. Right? Isn't it about them _hearing_ my words?

So, this is about me, not about that providence. Sue me.

More irony.

Kennon bent down and touched the dried earth. It didn't fight back so maybe it was just dirt. I pushed past him and made a few strides into the demon's territory. Once I reached the center of it, I waited. Here I am, come and get me!

Nothing happened. A whole lot of nothing.

With a sigh I jerked my head, "Come on, the map says this way. If she wanted us dead she'd have laid a trap by now." Unless she was the type to play with her food. I swallowed, but turned around so Kennon wouldn't notice it. I'm the Executioner here.

So why did the thought of killing this demon bother me so much?

**RememberingNothing**

It was well into the night when we reached something that looked normal again. The deaden forest slowly began to raise life, like the first sign of spring after a harsh winter – or a forest fire. Sprouts of bright green popped from the gray earth and dusted the bony limbs of the trees. It's strange, after so long in the dark the smallest things bringing life make me want to cry.

When did I become so weak?

"Katsumi!" Kennon gasps suddenly. His big hand wraps around my bicep, fingers overlapping slightly. "Do you ever stop?" I turn back and realize the man is flush, sweating, and leaning heavily on one knee and on me. His breathing had become louder as we progressed but I logged the sound out.

When his eyes met mine he laughed, a choked sound but warm like his fathers. "We've been hiking since sunrise!"

Had we? Had we not taken a single break? I looked up at the moon, it was not too high, but it must have been ten hours at least sense we left the providence. Maybe nine. Maybe Kennon was just messing with me. I pulled him with me off to the side of the makeshift path we were taking. Hunting trails Kennon said were used before the she-demon came.

I sat down with my back to a tree and took a deep breath. As soon as I let it go I felt it: tension, weariness, exhaustion pulling at my chest. I gasped as if I couldn't get enough air in. Muscles cramped painfully, my feet throbbing. I pushed my too-long hair back and felt the sweat at my brow and the back of my neck. My chest ached with something fierce. What had I done? What happened to me?

It was as if I only just realized I was exhausted. Pushing pain aside was an easy trick now. It's one of the first things I learned in training. But it was never like this, and I usually only managed to do it in a fight where adrenaline was high. I was just walking! How could I have done this to myself?

Kennon crouched beside me. "Katsumi, deep breaths." His hand at my back was warm and soothing, but heavy and I wasn't getting enough air already. He pulled away before I could push him and disappeared for several minutes.

The flicker of light and the scent of wood smoke shook me to awareness. Kennon sat close by but not touching as a healthy fire burned. The sight of it was a small comfort, but I'm not sure why.

For a moment, as I stared into the fire I thought I saw a pair of gold eyes peering back at me. Their focus was so intense I flinched away.

"How are you doing?" Kennon's deep voice was calming, steady and familiar.

"Sorry about that." I said instead of an answer. There wasn't an excuse for my behavior. How could I possibly tell him I _forgot_ about rest? He'd probably blame it on possession and cut my head off to be done with me.

The flashes of a sword and of claws past by in quick and frantic succession. Blurring and forming a shadow I did not know, of fire and a hundred sudden deaths, and the being walking towards me – stalking me in the fire. Suddenly, the warmth was gone and in its place a lonely ache I did not understand.

"I'll take the first watch tonight. You rest." I wanted to protest. Really, it was right there on the tip of my tongue when Kennon turned back to me. His hand reached out, hesitated a moment before landing on my shoulder. Something in my eyes must have told him not to touch my face like he clearly wanted to do. Then he smiled. The same small smile, as if he were ashamed of that smile, that brought a brightness to his dark eyes. His voice dropped an octave as his uttered one word, "Please."

Kindness and I are distant acquaintances. My understanding of the word is vague and all I can remember is my aunt giving me an extra helping of dessert as a child. So instead of huffing and pushing him away, instead of ignoring him and taking first watch merely because it was denied me I only nodded and leaned more heavily on the tree.

**RememberingNothing**

I dreamed of battles. Hordes of demons were coming for me and I stood among a handful to defend against them. I don't know why I'm fighting, what I'm defending, but as the battle rages I realize there are demons on both sides. Foxes, like real foxes, slither here and there and move like shadow biting and tearing the colorful array of monsters to shreds. Stags of the darkest black prance about the field, stomping and crushing their foes as they go with elegant horns sprouting from the males and females the more they kill. There are other, little unidentifiable creatures that are more nature than creature with giant axes and glowing red eyes. When our enemies struck one they burst into a pile of flowers.

I knew they were demons, not the animals they were portrayed as. But that was how I saw them. Foxes, deer, and shrubbery fighting along my side against a horde of the ugly monstrosities that live under rocks and bridges. Blue and black blood painted the landscape; the grass, trees, even the sky and the clouds became a darkened mess. The sound was distorted as I dreamed, like being underwater all I could hear was my heartbeat growing faster and faster. I did not grow tired or weary. But the flow of monsters did not seem to end.

Suddenly a roar broke the silence. Claws and fangs gave way to sword and knife. A creature made of shadow and violence broke the line of demons coming for me. Its deafening roar terrified our enemies as it attacked with unhinged ferocity. Bodies ripped apart and flew into the abyss blood dripped from its mouth as it swallowed some of them whole. And as this new creature raced about the battlefield I could feel its utter _joy_ at being free! It lived for the blood and war. It craved sinking its fangs into a hot body and feeling it run cold beneath it.

The sensation terrified me. I cried out to stop the creature and it turned on me, the palest eyes I have ever seen inside endless pools of black ink trained on me. And the shadow bounded for me, its paws leaving giant cracks in the ground were demons slipped through and were never seen again. Its tail swiped at the sky, and rain fell all around us to wash away the filth of war.

I could stop the shadow even if I wanted to. It came for me with pristine focus, inhuman eyes trained solely on me. Right before the creature could connect I jerked away from the dream violently. I slammed the back of my head against the tree trunk while my hands struck out at nothing. Pain brought a flash of red to my vision and I shoved myself to my feet hurriedly and unsteadily. I waited for my eyes to clear before I moved though. Kennon was spouting concern and asking questions. I pushed him away as I grabbed my head.

The pain receded, and I resented that because the dream came back to me in terrible clarity. But parts of it were changing. The foxes no longer looked like simple animals, but beautiful people with the whitest of white hair and soft, delicate features. Centaur-like hybrid stag replaced the leaping deer, their arrows blackening the sky before raining down. I remember the red eyes and the little people dressed in swamp plants.

The shadow with the raging appetite and pale eyes did not change. It peered at me with terrible focus, crouching and waiting. But it no longer became a real creature. Instead I felt everything as it felt deep inside me. The creature _was _me.

**RememberingNothing**

He didn't wake me. That pissed me off. If Kennon had woken me for my shift I would have avoided the disturbing dream. Anger, we are old friends. I get anger. Kennon was slow the next morning but just as quiet and I wasn't sure if that was more upsetting? He kept watch all night. Never woke me for my turn. There's a line between kindness and stupidity. But he wasn't complaining. He'd stop me every couple of hours for a break, a moment to chew leathery, dried meat and some rice wrapped in seaweed before we headed out again. This time I paid acute attention to my limits.

This time I wasn't going to fall apart so easily.

But nothing eventful happened. All day was normal summertime in the forest, no more dual-personalities cohabiting as if it were not one of the creepiest things I ever saw. I wasn't sure whether to be glad or not. I needed _something _to keep my mind off my dream. I started thinking about the demon I was hunting. Maybe the demon wasn't so bad. Maybe she just wanted to be alone, the deadened part a warning to stay back. I didn't get hurt so maybe she wasn't a vindictive sort. I could relate to peace and quiet and seeking a place without people trying to kill me.

_So now I'm relating to a demon, am I? That's comforting. _

Couldn't be half-as bad as sympathizing with them. If I could relate maybe killing it would be easier. But the whole in my stomach told me that wasn't true.

At night Kennon began to set up firewood. Before he could light it I stopped him. "What?" He snarled, his tiredness catching up to him. Should have woken me up for my shift, hot shot.

"I think we're being watched."

To his credit Kennon did not move. He did not look around suddenly, did not jump. He did not even tense. His face, facing mine and away from the trees, went slack for a moment, shock and apprehension seizing him. But he handled himself very well. It surprised me a bit, information to log away for later.

His hand went to a hilt as he waited for my signal, a slow and trained movement. Not startled or fresh off the training grounds. That surprised me, too, the way his dark eyes met and held mine. But this was my mission, and he the witness. I scanned the forest in front of me, behind Kennon, with a hand on one of my throwing knives. I'd need to be faster than whatever was hunting me. The small blade had less time to slip out of its sheath.

Darkness through the thick of the trees, silence all around. Whatever was out there, it was waiting just like us. I didn't like it. Waiting meant it was patient, patient meant it was smart. And smart meant trouble.

Then, out of the darkness I saw a light. A small little orb of soft light bobbed and weaved a couple yards ahead. I narrowed my gaze and the orb began to spin very fast before it sped off to the right, out of sight. What the…? What was that? I'd never seen anything like that before. Suddenly, as quickly as it sped off it came back, bouncing at me. I frowned and it spun a few more times, dancing in the air before it took off again. Did it want me to follow it?

No. No, I'm not chasing little dancing balls in the middle of a cursed forest just as the last remains of sunlight touched the tops of the tress. That was stupid.

"What happened?" Kennon didn't quite whisper, he noticed that whatever had caught my attention was gone.

For a moment I debated about leaving him. Then a memory surged to the forefront of my mind, unbidden and unwanted. Going in to take care of Wulx and his rabid pack, alone. The women and the babies. The wounds that bled for days. The stupidity of my actions.

I started at Kennon. What was I looking for? He did not waver. Finally I shook my head, "I think our demon just invited us to play a game."

He frowned, his dark eyes narrowing at the forest around us. "We should find a safer place to camp."

I scoffed, "Where do you suggest?"

"There are some caves a ways off here," he pointed in the direction where the little light sped off.

"You want to stomp around in the dark in a forest cursed by a she-demon who might have poisoned your waters and used those people like puppets to chop you to pieces?" I waited and he huffed at me in annoyance. "Forget it." I looked where the ball had disappeared and felt something in my stomach unsettle for a moment.

"Do you want to go after it?" Kennon sounded slightly resentful. Maybe that's the grumpiness talking.

"Don't know." After a long while I turned back to Kennon, his stance appeared more or less like when I first met him. One hand on a hilt, eyes narrowed and suspicious, nothing said he trusted me right now.

Well, too bad. This is my show. I call the shots, right? He's the spectator. He paid the fee and has to watch the show.

"Come on." I snapped turning and leaving him, not checking to see if he'd follow.

The path the light took was untraveled; more so than the concealed hunting trail Kennon showed me. I stumbled as the sun disappeared and nothing but a sliver of moon appeared. I frowned; new moon would be tomorrow or the next night.

After several minutes I waited. By coming out here I accepted the game, now we both have to play along. Kennon stood behind me, hostility rolling off him in waves as he glared daggers at my back. I could feel him wanting to say something.

Before he got it out the orb bounced back into view. It spun upwards in a spiral - happy to see me? – then pinged off a tree as if it were a pinball. I jumped over a rotted branch and raced after the light. It was easy to spot, the only light available right now. When I thought I'd lost it, the little ball would jump back into view yards away. Just enough to see it, not enough to catch it. And every time I got closer it would spin about in a mini twister right before taking off deeper into the forest.

I really hope Kennon knows where we are. If not, I am hopelessly lost.

I don't know how long we chased after the ball. Probably minutes, maybe. But by the time I reached the edges of a cluster of trees, opening to an open area with a tiny pool and a trickle of a waterfall on one side and a sheer drop off a cliff on the other Kennon and I were panting like we'd run a marathon.

And it takes a lot of running to tire me out.

I almost patted Kennon on the back for keeping up with me. But he was still grumpy and would have probably taken the complement as mockery. _Men!_

Instead I waited to catch my breath before stepping out of my hiding spot. It didn't appear as if anyone lived here. The mud next to the pool was smooth, no footprints there. Same as the loose dirt near the edge of the cliff. A few birds sang goodnight, a small comfort I supposed. Not a sign of the little ball either.

As the seconds pass and I observed the clearing my heart began to race. Where was she? Why did she lead me here?

Frustration made me anxious. I shouted at the top of my lungs, "HERE I AM, NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

Probably should have warned Kennon what I was about to do. But the way he flattened himself to the ground as if he'd heard a gunshot was must comical, and I could use a laugh. He glared hotly at me as I smothered the last of my giggles.

"Do you think this is a game? This is my _home_ you're playing around with!"

"I'm tired of being pulled around by everyone." Then to the air I called out, "Come out and face me and we will be civilized." Not sure where that last part came from, but once I said it I realized that if I could _talk_ this she-demon down, maybe I wouldn't have to kill anyone. And once _that_ thought reached me I decided I _didn't_ want to kill anyone.

The nightly wind blew through my hair, the bird's quieted with my challenge; the chilling silence greeted me and for a while I figured no one was out there. With a sigh I turned back to Kennon, "I suppose we will just camp here tonight." He didn't look happy, but I brushed past him intent on having first watch.

**RememberingNothing**

As Kennon sleep softly I glared at the dying embers of our fire. It was a rough watch. I jumped at ever sound, trying to see everything at once. Finally I removed one of my dueling knives and lay it out on my lap as I sat with my back to the pool. If she were to come for me, the forest or the cliff were the best options. She could be an excellent climber, thus the cliff, or she could have been in the forest all along with darkness and camouflage on her side. I doubted she was a pool-demon; being the delicate creates they were outside of their element.

Alone, my imagination ran wild and vicious. I think it might be my worst enemy, my imagination.

Hours pass and still no sign of the she-demon, or her glowy little ball. I no longer felt eyes on my back. But that didn't mean I felt better.

It wasn't until I almost woke Kennon up for his shift when a lithe creature stepped through the forest and stood in the clearing staring at me. She was so quiet and her appearance was so sudden I froze, like a deer in headlights. My doom was coming towards me and I could not get out of the way!

She moved with stealth and grace. Unearthly and unreal, her figure floating and gliding more so than walking slowly towards her. A long cloak covers the creature's body, a deep hood hides its face. A pair of greenish, gold eyes peer at me unwaveringly, disturbingly focused. I cannot tell anymore from it by first appearance.

Before I can take a breath to speak, it is within touching distance. I flinch violently and fall back suddenly on the dirt. It doesn't move for me, standing patiently for me to gather myself. I scuttle away like a bug before I shove myself to my feet inelegantly. We don't say anything for a long time. But I'm no good with silence, not unless it's on my terms and right now I need answers.

"Who are you?" the creature's eyes seem to widen for a moment before disappearing. When I see them again the shape is different, as if this person is…smiling perhaps.

Two hands part the robe and take the hem of the hood in extra-long fingers before pulling it back. The features are delicate, soft, beautiful, and everything you'd imagine for an elf. Her inhuman eyes did not seem to belong with her fine features. Not a blemish to be found her thin eyebrows and eyelashes matched her pale golden hair. It seemed to shimmer in the soft moonlight, glowing about her head like a halo as it curled in spirals around her shoulders and chest. Her pale face appeared relaxed, untroubled by seeing me. Not in an overconfident, I'm-going-to-enjoy-crushing-you kind of way.

Other than her eyes, the woman looked rather…human. A _very _pretty human, but human nonetheless. There were no horns or fangs or scales or tattoos, no claws or outrageous hair styles, even her cloak seem normal, not even made of silk but of a coarser fabric. That might have been what kept me rooted to the spot, that she just looked so _normal._ There wasn't even the absurd obsession with youth since she looked to be in her late thirties.

She had aged well, but she did not possess eternal youth.

"Good evening, Katsumi," her voice was even and carried well, strong and stern at the same time but holding a certain tenderness to it. I found her voice rather pleasing to listen to.

But she knew my name and that made me very uncomfortable.

As if sensing my thoughts the woman held her arms slightly out and away from her body, displaying the curves of a woman and no weapons visible on her person. "I have brought you here to talk, Katsumi. Nothing more."

"You're the she-demon?"

She smiled, a soft movement of her lips that did not appear malice or vindictive. If demons could be _comforting_ perhaps that was what was in her smile. "Yes, I am the demon that the humans sent you after." She made no move to fight me. I had kept a strong, white-knuckled grip on my knife out of self-preservation when I fell and picked myself up. Right now, I held it at my side, waiting.

"Why did you bring me out here?" I gestured to the clearing with my free hand.

She clasped her hands together in front, outside of the cloak. "I thought you needed somewhere safe and comfortable to rest. She looked at the pool then back at me. "Are you feeling better? You didn't sleep well last night."

Okay…That's was creepy. But the way she said it didn't _sound _creepy. She wasn't showing off, she was…dare I say…genuinely…No. Demons are not genuine.

Something on my face must have showed because the she-demon took half a step towards before thinking better of it and staying put. "I do not mean to cause you harm, Katsumi. I only wish to speak with you."

"How do you know my name?" The words came out a bit harshly.

"I have been watching you Katsumi. From the time you first arrived at the Counsel's court."

The words…some of them…"Counse"l stuck and latched on with a vengeance.

"What do you mean by that? Who are you?"

The woman frowned. Taken slightly aback she shook her head, her curls swishing softly against her face. "You do not know me?"

I hesitated. "I don't a lot of things." I paused. What could possibly be the harm in telling her? "I don't remember the last month. I hit my head and lost my short-term memory." The words struck her as if I told her I broke an arm. She rushed to me on silent feet, bare feet I notice before it was too late and she was standing unbearably close.

"Are you alright!" she took my face in her hands, turning it right then left before she let me go to take my hands and hold them between us. Her greenish, gold eyes shone brightly with worry. Do demons worry? About other people, I mean.

I ripped my hands from hers and realized I dropped my knife when she took them. Why would I do that? "I'm fine!" I bit the words out more in shock then in anger. "I just don't remember the last month or so. If we've meet, I'm sorry…" Now I'm apologizing to make her feel better?

"Oh, no!" She exclaimed, hiding a pained expression as she held her hands up and took two steps away from me. "Katsumi, I haven't made myself known to you before tonight."

I frowned, "Then why..?"

"I knew your father, Katsumi."

I laughed. This was one of those moments where the world just wasn't making sense and you either had to laugh or cry to deal with it. I don't cry much, so I laugh the insanity away. "_You_ knew my father? A _demon_ knew _my _father? Lady, do you have the right guy in mind?" My father may have been weaker than my mother, but he wasn't one to stand being in the _same room_ as a demon unless it was to kill it.

The woman pulled back at my laughter. I held up a hand, "Sorry, look I'm not mocking you. It's just if you _knew_ my father there is no way you would be saying that."

The woman waited for me to finish my fun. The laughter died in a matter of seconds as the night air pressed in around us. When I didn't say anything else she seized my hands with lightning speed and held them firmly in her long-finger grip. Her strange eyes – I have never seen eyes like hers – she peered at me intently and with quiet focus. I froze and waited, as if this were some important ritual and I had no choice but to participate.

When she settled with whatever she determined she sighed. "You have forgotten so much." I frowned, how much had happened in a month?

"Katsumi," her voice brought me back, "have you ever sung a song to yourself?" I shook my head, no I didn't sing. But her words sounded as if they should have made sense but didn't. The women sense I didn't understand. "Have you ever used your gift, Katsumi, on yourself?"

My eyes widened and I shoved her back. "How did you-"

"It is a very special gift. Not all of us can use it so fiercely as you can. But…" she turned away from me and began to sing a soft melody. She carried her voice with merely sounds, no words that I could distinguish, and it was sweet and lovely and coaxing. The kind of song you would wake up to and not mind facing the day. I followed her eyes to the pool and watched as ripples in the water popped up in time with the woman's voice.

As she sang the water began to _rise_, a trickle reaching up followed by another and then another and soon there were six or seven pillars of water that moved up and down along with her voice. I giggled at the display. It was fun and entertaining and beautiful and marvelous to watch.

The woman let the water go from her thrall and when she finished the song, I realized I had been played just like the pool. I took several steps back, scooping up my knife as I did so.

A small smile crossed her lips as she watched me. "You always loved that trick." I narrowed my gaze. "If you want to remember," the woman began to turn away and leave, raising her hood again, "Influence yourself to do it." Then, in a blink, she was gone.

I stood there alone for a long time. The nightly crickets singing in the dark but the sounds hurt my ears after listening to the she-demons melody. How could I have allowed her so close? She could have killed in eight different ways, probably more but I already felt like an idiot. I stomped over to Kennon who snored lightly through the whole thing. I knelt down to shake him awake so we could leave this place when I watched the water settle at last to a smooth surface again. The ripples from the little waterfall did not reach the edge of the pool were I sat.

I stared at my unblemished reflection.

"_If you want to remember, Influence yourself to do it."_

Could I? I'd never Influenced myself. I didn't think it was possible. But as my reflection stared back it was as if it were daring me to try. If it didn't work I'd feel more like a fool than I already did. But if I did…Then I'd have the month I'd lost back.

I scoffed at nothing particular. What could I lose if it didn't work? What did I have to gain if it _did_?

For a long moment I simple sat at the edge of the pool looking down. Then, in a snap decision before I lost my nerve, I took a deep breath and whispered, "**Remember**.** Remember Everything**!"

**Okay! So this chapter took me FOREVER! I keep going back and changing bits here and there. I couldn't decide if I like what I'd done or to let the story just write itself. But when neither were happening I got frustrated. Lots of rewriting went on followed by lots of anger and lots of cursing. **

**Then suddenly I decided what needed to be done was make it longer. Have the she-demon show up in this chapter and not the next chapter. I felt extremely better after that!**

**Sorry for not updating soon. But now you know why! **

**Can y'all believe I'm past 130,000 words! That's crazy! And it's all thanks to you, the wonderful readers/reviewers! Thanks for reading and enjoying and telling me how I'm doing. Keep doing that and the updates will keep coming!**


	23. A Shadow's Past Thrives in Present's Day

**Happy Independence Day! Did you watch Will Smith fight the aliens? I TOTALLY DID!**

**This little baby although isn't the longest chapter is one of my favorites and for that I dedicate it to everyone who has been here with me since the beginning! And to anyone who read the whole thing in a day! And to anyone who gave me a review, who favorite it, and alerted it! And to those who didn't but will at the end of this chapter!**

**2 years, kidos! This story has been reaching out to y'all for 2 YEARS! (can you see that I'm excited?) **

Chapter 23: A Shadow's Past Thrives in Present's Day

I screamed. I've never heard this happen before; I Influence someone and they either do it or fight it, and there is very little screaming involved. But me – oh God! The pain is excruciating! Imagines fly pass in impossible succession but every frame is clear as if I am looking through a photo album. I remember the last month. The well, the gem, the horde that follows me, and what _becomes_ of the horde – what _really _becomes of the horde. Creatures and faces slip by but I have names and places for them now: Rin, Jaken, Kyouryoku, Kinu, Tayorinai, Kinaga, Youkou, Toudai. More faces, more places, creatures that shouldn't be talking and yet I hold a perfectly comprehensible conversation with them.

I remember impossible gold eyes, framed by silver hair, and a man who is colder than ice but sets my heart on fire! My time with Sesshomaru is revealed. Our first meeting, my empty threats and his _patience_. The sun rises and sets and our relationship changes. Fear is not predominant, there is curiosity, then kindness, and finally I care for him so deeply – too strongly! Kisses, hot and insistent; one hand strokes my thigh, claws leave a delicate pattern on my flesh – too hot, too much! In the midst of the pain I feel the ach in my chest. I gasp and there's not enough air.

The scenes bleed away until I am standing at a cliff with a woman I really do not know as I flee from Sesshomaru's anger. Her hand pierces my side, sinking to her wrist. I see gold eyes as I fly through the air for a moment. Then everything rushes like someone pressed the fast forward button as I fall into a raging river, tossed about like a rag doll as I hit the boulders hiding beneath the surface. Pain blossoms in my arms and legs before my head snaps again one sharp rock and blackness eats away the edges of my vision.

Memories flooding to refill spots of my mind, satisfying until I can take no more. I scream in agony, shoving away from the reflection of the pool. Crouching, I grasp my forehead. It is like no pain I can describe. No phantom fire, no tiny needles pricking my skin. This is an assault on my mind and the pain is only from within.

I am aware of two, warm hands clutching my shoulders for only a second. But it isn't just a month I am remembering. There is _more. So much more._

Terror drowns me as a time I had not even known was my own swallows me whole.

**AShadow'sPastThrivesinPresent'sDay**

A man, young but for the crinkled skin around his pale blue eyes and mouth, smiles down at a little girl, her stubby arms reach up to him and he takes her immediately. His dark hair is tied back at the nap of his neck, but it curled in retaliation at being restrained. In the light, blue streaks of sapphire glittered vibrantly. A woman comes up next them, her light gold eyes shine with happiness and love as she presses a kiss against the soft cheek of the child. Sun shines brightly as a warm breeze tosses the woman's hair into a swirl of glittering silver-blue. The man laughs and there seems to be absolutely nothing wrong with the world.

**AShadow'sPastThrivesinPresent'sDay**

There is screaming in the next room. But the girl does not move. She holds the pail of cold water, just like Daddy said to, just in case Mommy needed the water. It takes a very long time before the screaming stops and even longer before the second voice starts screaming, still longer until she is allowed into the room.

Daddy grins at her, the skin at his eyes crinkling, holding a bundle of cloth against his chest. Mommy smiles; she looks sleepy. Carefully the girl sets the pail down and enters the room as quietly as possible, walking on hollow ground, here. But as she draws nearer, Daddy leans down so she may see the baby squirming. It is too pink, and kinda ugly.

But she is now part of her blood, just like Mommy and Daddy. When she strokes the babe's cheek, with surprising gentleness for one of her age, the newborn coos and turns into the warmth of her finger. A smile spreads across the girls face. She looks up at Daddy and he looks so proud.

**AShadow'sPastThrivesinPresent'sDay**

The night is cooler now as Daddy and the girl, scrawny and with no baby chubbiness, sit on a porch watching fireflies. He is disappointed in her. She did something bad today.

"Words have power, Little One," Daddy said quietly, in the way daddies always say things when they are greatly angered with their children.

"I know," but she didn't. Not really, not in the way her daddy expected her too.

He frowned as if he knew this and held out his hand in the empty air. He sang of longing and of coming home and it was beautiful and strong and several fireflies flocked to his palm. The girl stared in wonder. "Now, watch," and suddenly he clenched his hand tightly, the insects that had not perched sped off at the sign of danger. But the ones that had done as he asked…her daddy opened his hand and it was covered in black.

Flinching, the girl regretted her wonder from before. "Why did you kill them?"

Daddy wiped his hand on his robe as he spoke, "Words have power. These creatures know to avoid a hand for they could be squashed by it. But I took their sensibility away. That is not right."

The girl frowned. "He called Mommy a bad name."

"Many people will say terrible things. It is not our place to take their will away."

"Then why do we have this power?" She turned to the twinkling specs. "**Leave**." It wasn't gentle and beautiful like Daddy's voice; the word came like acid flung out, burning everything it touched and leaving an ugly wound behind. As soon as the word left her lips the lights sped off as if being chased by something terrible. "What is our purpose?"

At his sigh she realized she disappointed him again. "We have this power so that others who would abuse it do not." He gestured to the empty yard, "Do you feel empowered by this?"

She sniffed, "No."

"Remember that feeling the next time you steal someone else's will. We did not give free will; we have no right to take it."

"_What do we do_?"

"We preserve what we can, work with nature and help it grow when we can." He held out his hand and the girl slipped against his side without hesitation. "One day you will understand, you cannot _control_ the world."

"I can manipulate it."

"Yes, but for only a short time. There is _order_ to the world, my Little One, and you cannot alter that order." She frowned sharper. Sighing lightly he took her chin into his hand and pulled her face up. "We help, we do not control."

"Do I have to help everyone?"

"You have as much free will as everyone else."

**AShadow'sPastThrivesinPresent'sDay**

There is urgency in his voice. A woman pleading with him. Not Mommy, another woman, Amaterasu, Daddy and she had a history and she was traveling with us. But things were different. We never stayed in one place for very long, but this was different – someone was chasing Daddy and for the first time he was frightened. His tone was harsh to Amaterasu's pleading. He relented after a long time. And she took us farther than we had ever been to a village with no name, to a priestess who had the ability to hide us and the kindness to do it.

Her blue eyes were hard, distrustful. But Daddy gestured to me and to my little sister who cooed softly at Mommy's hip. She offered us refuge. She took us to a dried well and when she told me to close my eyes I did so only so I would not have to look at her anymore.

Daddy carried me through the journey as I clenched my eyes. It doesn't take us long to get there, but when I open my eyes again we are in a strange land where the only thing that's the same is the dried well. He leads the way, Mommy close behind as we rush in the moonlight.

It isn't too soon until the man chasing Daddy comes for him.

But it isn't Daddy he wants.

We run silently until the shadows begin to grow and reach out to us. The air grows unbearably cold; I can see the puffs of my hurried breath. We turn down corner after corner but it is still there, one step ahead.

_The child!_ Darkness slithers from crevasses, fingers three times as long as Daddy's reach out to me and I scream. Mommy and Daddy try to sing it away, but it laughs…a horrible sound!

Fingers become claws but I don't know when and suddenly Mommy is no longer singing. But the baby is crying. I try to pick the fragile thing up but Daddy stops singing and all that's left is the laughter. I scream and it draws back, whether in surprise or hurt I do not known. But when I open my mouth again claws rip at me. Something hot and sticky pours over my dress and shoes.

The laughter grows all around. _I will take the child! Its power will be mine!_ There is no more crying from my sister. I take my mommy's hand but it is cold and her eyes won't focus on me. Daddy coughs; the creature starts slithering towards me in sharp, jerky strides; unhurried, it has all the time in the world to enjoy the kill.

"Little One," Daddy said, his voice is strong and I latch onto it. "_**Flee my child, flee**_!" I get up and run. I do not look back. I run hard. My parents lay cold and dead and I run for my life as the laughter grows steadily behind me.

Something black and quick scuttles across the empty street and I trip, scraping my hands and knees. A wet sound surrounds m; squishy and hot, dark and wet I paint the concrete in front of me. But with the light of the moon I do not know what it is until I try to gather myself. Blood, my blood, splattered around me as if in some horrible child's artwork. I want to scream but I need to run.

"You cannot escape me." Cold and black and slick, the voice comes from everywhere and no where.

Death reeks of rotted fruit, the promise of pain and torment and unimaginable terror I have never known, never within the barest glimpse of knowing. A long hand detaches itself from a shadow in front of me, blocks the way as an arm emerges from the seemingly flat surface as if it were a cavern fathomlessly deep. The arm pulls the body up with it, the outline of a man with too-long fingers and too-long arms. He reaches out for me, his fingers growing longer to reach me more quickly.

There are no eyes, only hollowed out holes within a block of shadow and obsidian, but it sees me nonetheless and I pulled back with that knowledge. Bottomless pools of nothing, it stares at me, reaching for me, and for some horrible reason I _know_ it is _smiling_.

I scream, the sound retched and horrified and full of _terror_. The fingers flinch and still. The creature makes a noise of desperation but I drown it out in sorrow and hate as tears stream down my face – a mixture of salt and dread and a deep anger that is red hot and smoldering beneath the surface. It isn't elegant like singing, this cry of horror; it is ugly and terrible and the shadow covers its head as if it had ears and retreats into the pool of black.

My breath is hard and wheezing as I wait for the shadow to return. When it doesn't I turn away and run as white hot fire pours from the gash in my belly.

I find my parents lying right where I left them. But as I rush to his side Daddy looks at me with a weary smile. His hand tries to touch me but he falls short. I take his hand and put it to my face. "Daddy?"

"I'm going to do something unforgivable, my daughter." His laugh holds no warmth to it. "But you must understand that nature has its ways of righting itself and one day what I am going do will be unmade."

The words don't make sense. Why won't he look at me?

"_Forget, Katsumi. Forget who you are and what you are. Forget your father and mother and sister. Forget you are a demon. Forget of our home in ancient Japan_." I sit there stunned as he begins to sing a soft song in a language I do not know. The words wash over me and with every wave a piece of me goes with it. Suddenly, all that's left is a little girl in a pool of blood surrounded by broken bodies with no names and empty eyes.

**AShadow'sPastThrivesinPresent'sDay**

I come to shaking hard and sweating – gasping for air as if I were drowning. Perhaps I am. Drowning in sorrow, of a time gone that I had forgotten and shouldn't have. I spit and there's blood there. My moving brings Kennon from the rock he had perched on; he unfolds his hands from his chest as he finished the last of his mumbling prayers. His warm hands cup my face as he brings a cup of water to my mouth.

"Slowly," he warns in a deep tone that warms me to the bones.

I try to comply but I'm much thirstier than I realized and I choke, shoving the cup, the wrist and the boy far away. He lands with an "_Oof!" _as his dark eyes start up at me.

I'm stronger than I look.

Because I am a demon…

"Feeling better?" Kennon asks as he gathers himself and dusts his pants off. "You…" he frowns and looks away, "had a nightmare."

That last part might be a lie. Does he know what I did, what I am?

I sit up and turn away from him for a moment to lift my shirt up. Not even a mark that the woman had stabbed him. I touch the flesh, just in case, but still there's nothing. I could have chalked it up to a dream – a hallucination. But it's too late to lie to myself. With a glance at the pool I know it's too late to fabricate something rational.

The pink scar of the Shadow is ugly in its smooth mark against my pale skin. The only mark I have, the only evidence that it had touched me. Pulling my lips from my teeth I shove the shirt down and shove my hands into my hair – hair too long, but now it seems too short.

Maybe I've never directly Influenced myself, but indirectly I've been manipulating my entire life. I made up some story and I told it to myself so that my reality wouldn't shatter, so that my father's last song wouldn't be in vain. I've been running for so long it's like this is the first time I got to catch my breath.

"Katsumi?" Kennon asks as he takes a step back. I watch his feet because I'm scared to face him. Would he see a demon's eyes if I raised my head? Would he try to kill me if I said anything?

I turn away and judge the time by the sun, early morning, past dawn, but not yet nearing noon. I sigh. "Sorry I didn't wake you for your watch."

He offers a huff of laughter that doesn't quite reach me. But his large hand is suddenly in front of me and I take it gingerly. Without effort he pulls me to my feet and shakes his head. "It's fine. I didn't wake you last time." He turns to the forest. "Is that the right way?"

I doubt there is a right way anymore. "We should stay here." He turns sharply to argue. "I'm pretty sure this is her watering hole. She'll come by this way sooner or later."

His eyebrows knot together, "So now it's '_She_'?"

Biting my lip, I curse at my slip. But she isn't an "it" anymore. She's Amaterasu…Ama… the woman who knows my father. The woman who knows me. I remember hands reaching down to pat my hair; her arms have slender marks all over her flesh of a pale pink – they twist and whorl and I could sit for hours tracking them. I can't think of them as _demons _and _she-demons_. They are people, with families and homes and dreams.

And I am one of them.

Kennon is still waiting but I don't give him anything. He shouldn't be here with me. "Could you find something other than our rations to eat? I'll start up a fire."

Clearly dismissed, Kennon snarls as he turns toward the tree line. I waited several long moments after he disappeared before I stroke the flint rocks, coxed the fire to burn brightly, and turned away from the heat.

With a deep breath I steadied myself. "Ama?" I waited quietly, feeling only slightly foolish, before the answer came from behind me.

"Ah, you remember?" She tipped her head, golden curls falling in a thick curtain off her shoulder. Her smile was bright, lighting her strange eyes – familiar eyes – as she perched on a ledge of the pathetic waterfall. Her _kimono_ was pale blue and it shined in the sun like a jewel. "I am glad!"

Of course she was; she had no idea what happened on the other side of the well.

I stared at the rippling pool for a moment as I gathered my thoughts. "My father repressed my memories." It seemed strange, speaking to this demon as if I know her.

_I do know her._

Of course I do.

Ama jumped down and landed without a sound next to me. Her hands took mine and I flinch without thinking. She held firm, "What happened, Katsumi? Your father took you and your family to the other side of the well and I never heard from him again!" She did not pause to breathe as she rushed on, "Imagine my surprise when I saw you at the Counsel!" her laughter was short and nervous, "Tell me, what has become of your family?"

"Dead."

She finches as if I've slapped her. Maybe I had. Ama was a gentle sort; their deaths probably never crossed her mind. "No…"

"The Shadow came after us, even where we went. He killed my father and mother and sister." Her green-gold eyes widen as clear pools gathered at the corners. "My father made me forget I saw their murders. I've been…"

_Killing demons for a living? Pretending to be human? _

I let the sentence hang there between us, rotted and cold. There was so much to account for. So much I needed to know. Did my parents – my human parents – my foster parents – know what I was? Could they have known? What had it been like for them, to find a bloodied orphan with no idea who or even _what _she was?

Ama looked so…_beautiful_. Did our kind appear more human like fox demons as children?

What did I look like now that my father's spell was shattered?

Kennon didn't seem too startled. Maybe I looked exactly the same…

"Dead…" Ama whispered and despair colored her tone and face. She seemed to have crumbled at the word.

"Ama," I called and held her close, "I am right here, please look at me." She did and her expression softened as one hand stroked my cheek. I distracted her further, "How did you find me?"

"I went to the Counsel. Mononoke are not…forbidden, exactly." She pouted when she frowned. "We govern our own and do not confirm to the laws of the land. It is an old understanding, and we are…allowed to participate in social norms if we so wish. I went because the land is trembling, Katsumi!" Her eyes widen again as her grip tightened. "A great calamity is coming!"

Without care to her feelings I ripped my hand out from hers. I clenched the fist to get the blood pumping again. "A great calamity?"

But Ama continued talking, "I witnessed the horde attack you. I did not know it was you until you sang…" she pouted again, "but you do not sing like we do." I was about to say something – I'm not sure what I would have said – but she waved her hand, "When you called the horde to you I _knew_ who you were.

"So I followed you after you left the Counsel and went to the mice's mountain. You fled before I could follow, though. I'm not sure what happened but-"

"Hold on." I cut her off. "I thought the demon plaguing this providence had lived here a long time."

She made a small sound in the back of her throat. "That little village is so paranoid; they think the very grass beneath their feet is a demon in disguise!"

I stared at her for a long moment, willing the shaking in my knees to leave. The world had suddenly shifted and I had no choice but to cling on for dear life.

Ama was a demon, and a very good friend of my father's.

My father and mother were demons.

_I was a demon_.

Gasping, I collapsed to my knees like a weight had been shoved down on top of me. A demon…_A demon! _

This new world seemed to have a lack of oxygen because I couldn't see straight anymore, couldn't gulp enough air into my lungs. My vision blurred and slanted as if I had spun around too fast, too long. Ama was touching me with warm hands and her soft voice was rushed in worry. Distantly I could hear singing – something slow and soothing, something like a lullaby from a long forgotten time. I turned away from Ama and threw up the meager rations from yesterday. It hurt; my throat aching and my stomach clenching, but the world didn't seem so disoriented anymore. The air wasn't stifling.

Ama stood still with her hands at her mouth, golden-green eyes wide as her tears from before final fell. "Katsumi…" her wet voice trailed off as she hummed the rest of the lullaby. I shook my head and waved off her concern. I needed to get it together.

I remembered everything.

I remembered my father and mother, the birth of my sister, and the fleeing from the Shadow.

But I also remembered my life as a human. Human parents, human wounds, human needs; the feeling that being human was _real_.

And now it isn't.

But I remember it like it was.

_But it isn't real!_

My breathing quickened again as I brought my legs up and dropped my head between my knees like I would be sick again.

There was a stomping sound that should have meant something to me, but Ama's soft voice finally seemed to be doing some good as her hand brushed my hair away from my face. I held her hand, for her comfort as much as my own, and looked up at her with a poor excuse for a smile. She must have noticed my effort though; she smiled warmly as well taking me back to sun-soaked naps and giggling afternoons, of flower-crowns and listening to her lullaby when father and mother were away.

It was all interrupted by the sight of a blade in the corner of my eye.

Like lightning, I pulled Ama down with the grip on her arm and snagged her elbow with my other hand to push her behind me without ceremony and without hesitation. She hit hard as a wicked sharp _katana _struck the dirt where she had stood. Kennon's breathing was harsh and he pulled the weapon back and his dark eyes flashed dangerously as they caught mine.

"Katsumi," he growled, "What are you doing?"

I wanted to laugh – really, it was right there tickling the back of my throat – but I only glared at him as I held Ama behind me. What could I say? Kennon was hardly the least of my troubles now. Not with an enraged Sesshomaru probably hunting me down, along with that she-demon that stabbed me in the side – and all that beside the alarming evidence that I am a demon from ancient Japan to begin with!

No. Kennon is hardly worth my time right now.

That said, he _is_ the one standing with a katana aimed at my father's oldest friend, a woman who was like family to me, and the only person who could possibly help me deal with the insanity I've found myself in. Do let it be said that I do not give credit where credit is due. And Kennon deserved the whole of my attention at the moment.

Demon hunting parties and a lost past to make up for aside, I had to deal with this man and his village before I could get out of here.

"Do not harm her, Kennon," at the use of his name he exploded.

"_She _has been a torment to my village! _She_ sent the illness that left my father and siblings weak. If my father had been healthy, _he _would have led the charge and my mother would still be alive!"

You don't reason with a crazy person. "Kennon, it's _my_ penance to deal with her. Not. Yours." I snarled the last two words as one hand rested firmly at the hilt of a dueling knife. His dark eyes did not miss the threat not-quite-hidden in my words. But there was tradition here, tradition that Kennon, if not myself, respected. He was here to _witness_, nothing more. And if God hadn't told him to come he wouldn't have been here in the first place and this would have been a whole lot easier!

So, yeah, for now I'm going to blame Kennon for a decent amount of my troubles – even if none of it is his fault and he has no idea why I'm going to blame him nor what for. Petty, my name is Katsumi.

Ama shivered as Kennon eyed her over my shoulder, making me raise my hackles in defense. Then he let out a growl of annoyance as he pulled away from us, but did not sheath his sword, I noticed.

"Fine," he threw one arm in exasperation, "kill her and be done with it!"

I stood and kept my grip on both Ama and my knife. "I'm not going to kill her."

His glare could have frozen a volcano. "Excuse me?"

"She doesn't belong here, Kennon." I watched his movements like a hawk, the guy could snap at any minute. "I'm going to escort her home." Before he could bark I continued, slowly pushing Ama and myself towards the woods. "You're village is freed, she goes where she belongs, and everyone's happy."

"That was _not _your purpose, Katsumi."

"Damn your traditions!" he flinched at my venom. "I am sick of your village deciding what I can and cannot do. From the very beginning it has been nothing but suspicion and chains since I saved your brother's life! I am not some weapon to be wielded!"

_Not anymore…_

"I will leave with the demon, and your village gets its damnable peace."

After a long and terribly quiet moment Kennon shook his head, "She cannot be allowed to torment another village." His grip tightened, his eyes hardened, the air around him seemed to condense into a tight ball of tension and rage, and I saw what was about to happen before it did.

And that had nothing to do with being a demon and everything to do with the training I was raised with.

Kennon charged, holding his _katana_ with true skill at eye level. But all that training, all that insufferable training, had been taught to a human girl.

I'm not human.

His speed was set to still-frame; he came at me with perfect clarity and I side-stepped the attack and managed a precise strike at his wrist as he passed by. The metal hit the dirt with a hollow thud, silencing the birds and the insects of the forest. Kennon's eyes widened for a moment before they met mine. I'm sure my surprised matched his.

Clarity and speed aside my body reacted beyond my conscious thought!

I let him pick up the blade again, and again he charged at me too slowly for me to do anything but watch as he stared in utter bewilderment at the blade at my feet for a second time. I hadn't drawn my own, yet, but I could feel the anger in him rise.

"You were supposed to help us!" he rushed and I jumped back as he snatched his sword and continued with his momentum, he swung and I ducked then jumped then shoved both feet at his chest and he flew back as I landed in a crouch. "Why are you helping it?"

"I owe your village nothing!" I spat, the rage rolling off of him fed my own frustration. Seriously, I had bigger fish to fry – or swim away from…

He came at me a third time and I heard more than saw him draw his second blade. An instant before he swung I dislodge one knife and blocked as I struck his wrist again. But he wasn't a fool; I struck but he slackened his muscle at the last second making the blow useless.

We were too close. Our blades screamed at the contact when he shoved harder, pushed my heals deeper into the loose dirt; hurt coloring his brown eyes as he pulled his teeth back in a snarl.

"And what do you owe _it_?"

My forehead met his; not everything I learned came from my human parents, some stuff you just pick up on when you survive in the streets and live among monsters. Kennon howled in pain as he stumbled back and I drew my second dueling knife to flourish them in natural intimidation. The silver glittered as bright as a clear riverbed, making his iron look bland and poor in comparison. Kennon scowled at the weapons as blood trickled from a cut at his hairline then at me before he flicked a hot glare at Ama.

"She is lost, Kennon. As am I." and truth it was, for I am very lost indeed.

A demon with a human past, mated to a Demon Lord, hunted by a Demon Lord, and without family, without a home, for I cannot go back to where I was before and the path set ahead is dark and twisted and frightening.

"You don't have to be lost, Katsumi!" and the rage suddenly left him as if the breeze that tickled his wild, thick hair had stolen it from underneath him. His arms fell to his sides, the tips of the blades gracing the dirt at his feet. The man no longer pursued bloodshed, contrary he gave up the fight altogether as his turned his back on me.

"I have fulfilled my oath, Kennon. I have found the demon and I have protected your home." His shoulders tensed. "But I can no longer stay. I have places to go and wrongs to right."

Chocolate brown eyes locked on mine, "You said…"

"I missed only a month, Kennon," a blatant lie that burned the back of throat, "I still have the rest of my life."

The furrow between his eyebrows deepened, "You will take it, and go…" he shook his head as he laughed without mirth. "I will not see you again."

"I don't know," I shrugged, trying for nonchalance as we stood with our blades still free, "I'll be around. Maybe you'll get lucky."

That startled a real chuckle from him, small and questionable but real all the same. "If I'm lucky, you say?"

The air hung heavily until, at some silence point, we sheathed our weapons at the same time. Kennon stood at an angle, not quite meeting my eye. And Ama finally stopped shaking long enough to slip quietly into the forest first. She wouldn't go far. Not so far I couldn't call to her if I needed her.

"I suppose, I should say goodbye," Kennon gave another half-laugh at himself and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Kennon…"

He smirked, that lovely little smirk that made my toes curl and lit up something small in my chest. When he smirked like that – well, one day he was going to make a girl _very_ happy.

"Goodbye, Katsumi. For what it's worth I am glad we met."

I didn't go to him. Didn't offer a handshake or a polite farewell in return. I didn't tell him I felt the same or make an empty promise to stop by if I were ever in the neighborhood. No apologies for insulting his providence. No hugs, no kisses; I nodded, turned and disappeared into the foliage.

Perhaps I should have walked back with him to his village and explained it myself to his grandmother and father. But they would have murdered Ama on sight. They had been persecuted and hunted and oppressed for decades. What was my word worth? Not all of my word even!

How could I tell them I was taking her back and she was willing to come? Kennon's anger blinded him from asking the smart questions. Ganjou's anger would be sharp as knife and deadly in its precision. There would be no hope of an easy getaway from Boketsu's keen eye and quick wit.

If anything, by going in person to explain myself would get me killed right next to Ama.

It'd save Sesshomaru the trouble, no doubt.

Something cold and wet slithered down my spine at the thought. He'd probably take insult that they saved him the trouble and just slaughter the whole providence to prove a point that only made sense to him. No way Sesshomaru, Demon Lord of the Western Lands would allow someone else take his prize. The man…That man…

He doesn't want a quick death for me. He will savor the chase and take me when I'm exhausted and weak. He will make me _beg_ for my death!

The words washed over me and I stopped suddenly frozen in terror. His bright, gold eyes finding me in the dark; one hand with elegantly long fingers dipped in fine-tipped claws circling around my throat; long and soft silver hair whispering against my cheek as he leaned forward; sights and sounds fading, memory slipping, air thinning, time slowing; a scream sounded far off in the distance as it is swallowed up by the night.

I panted as I fell against a tree. My flesh had gone cold as my knees shook and my teeth chattered. Silent tears trickled down my face to meet at my chin and splash onto the back of my hand which had gone numb. Fear was a crippling monster. And right now I was so afraid.

Sesshomaru would find me. He'd track me from the river, find this village and at the very first poor soul to cross his path he would learn that I was here for three days before I was banished into the forest. And he would track down Kennon and he would make the man talk.

No one was immune to Sesshomaru; not even me.

And Sesshomaru would learn from Kennon what happened here. That I found the demon, and he would describe Ama to the very last detail, and left with her.

Then what?

I sucked down air like I couldn't get enough.

_Then what_?

My head snapped up abruptly as a thought struck me. I know what happens next. I know because _I decided what happens next_. Sesshomaru will track us down and I have no hope in hiding my presence from him. But where I go from here is up to me. From this point on it isn't a river or a hardened people or even Ama that tells me what to do. From now until the time I see him again, I know where I am going.

I pulled myself together, straightening the black tunic and rubbing my face until it is stinging. With a soft call Ama comes to me with wide eyes, obviously witnessed to my breakdown but seeing the sharp change as well. She is older than me, but Ama had always been a little lost without my father. She needs me now.

But she isn't the only one.

"Where is your sister?"

A small smile touches her face at my mentioning – at my remembering, I suppose – and she turns away for a few seconds. I collect my thoughts as I wait, strategize and affirm that my decision is the right now. It won't be easy; but that would have been something to worry about yesterday, when I was human.

Easy doesn't mean a heck-of-a-lot to a demon. Easy just means there is no _challenge_. Near impossible: that just sounds like fun!

Ama comes out of the shadows with another demon at her side. She looks just like her sister: golden hair, green-gold eyes, pale skin with the faded pink tattoos on her arms, pointed nose, high cheekbones, light eyelashes and brows, a spitting image. Only Myou, who taught me how to make a flower crown when I was young, was mute. She was also a constant sight with Ama, since the woman refused the leave the demon alone for fear that she would come to harm.

After all, we are Mononoke, singing demons, and a songbird without her song would die without her defense mechanism. Ama refused to let nature have her say.

I took Myou's hand in mine, "It's Katsumi, Myou. Do you remember?" Irony, eat your heart out. She grinned and wrapped her arms around my neck before I could stop her. Apparently Mononoke are also very affectionate and not afraid to show it. I unlocked her grip and smiled reassuringly. "I am very glad to see you too.

"We have to leave, now, Myou, Ama." I looked at Ama over her shoulder her molted golden-greenish gaze turned worried again, "We are going east."

**AHA! How about THAT!? Seriously, I am **_**very**_** proud of this little chapter. You have memories and finally **_**remembering**_** those memories, fight scene, secretes reviled as some stuff is explained, more of Katsumi's past, a pretty cute OC, a pretty "gripping" cliff hanger, and **_**(most importantly**_**)**__**you have Sesshomaru!**

**And I know what you're thinking: 'BOUT FREAKING TIME! **

**Did I stretch the memory loss a bit? Was it too long? Were you starting to get bored with it? Com'on people! I need to know these things! Tell me what you think; please offer your completely honest opinion! Do it! Help me give you the best stories! **

**Of course, even I was rereading my work and I was like "WHERE IS SESSHOMARU!?" and it made me wonder if others thought it was taking too long to get back to the little love story. **

**And while you tell me your feelings about the time between Katsumi and Sesshomaru finding each other, tell me about the surprising and delightful twist that Katsumi is actually a demon from Feudal Japan! Yeah, a demon – go figure. And she's from the past? That's convenient! Hey, don't judge!**

**Or do, and write me a review with reasons that you don't care for the twist. I'll take the criticism under consideration so long as you give me ample reasoning and don't just sit there and rant. Please be wise in the hating, that's all I ask. (Not that I've received any flames – which is wonderfully surprising, I must say…Thanks for that!)**

**Let's celebrate the 2 year mark together and write me something good! If your review is special or touches my heart or makes me laugh the next chapter will be dedicated to you! And if everyone gives me a review I'll be more motivated to post the next chapter within the same month as this one – to your utmost shock, and mine as well.**

**And with this SUPER long author's note getting TOO long, I'll end it here with one last –**

**REVIEW!(I'm almost at 200)!(So make my 2 year anniversary special: Get me to 200)!**


	24. No More Running

**So I realized that I don't read author notes. I mean, on other stories, when the author writes a little something-something at the very top or bottom I gloss over it – if I bother with it at all. And it had me thinking that last chapter I wrote a ridiculously LONG author's note. Well, if I don't read them, then why would my readers read them?**

**In conclusion, I'm not going to write super long author notes again!**

**This chapter – a really, really, REALLY good chapter in my opinion – goes to **ScytheGirlKana **and **kloppo** for offering me so pretty great feedback! I was pleasantly surprised her origins were accepted so welcoming and people don't hate me for the memory loss – or even the time she's spent away from Sesshomaru. **

**I wasn't going to change all that if you **_**didn't **_**like it. Just nice to know you did and I didn't have to feel guilty for not changing anything. Good to know I'm doing it right!**

Chapter 24: No More Running

Silent feet padded across a polished wood surface as a woman lay as quietly and still as the dead on her side. Not dead, but only in words. When she had been dumped on the porch of the villa, bloodied and broken, the words were clear: _Do not come at me and mine again_. The burnt flesh still rotted of the acid that harmed it around her delicate shoulder. And the shallow cut on the back of her hand wasn't healing. It was a small thing, hardly worth the bandages used to wrap it up. But the blood seep regardless and that was strange. Still, foolish woman, to think she could stand on par with _his_ greatest enemy?

The pacing stopped; a small girl with a round mirror in her tiny grasp stood at the threshold of the room, her expressionless eyes flickered to the woman on the cot once before staring at the tall and proud male in the room. She did not speak, did not move, but there was a something in her deaden eyes as they passed over the woman. So, _he_ was there then?

'Bout time.

Naraku practically flung himself from Kinaga's prone form; he pushed the girl into the room as he left in a moment of forethought and closed the door behind her. Something had to be done with Sesshomaru and the rotten, little wench that broke his flawless plan with the Shackles of Mortality. She had luck on her side, that was all, and Naraku was a demon who knew Luck was fickle. Although Kinaga managed to tell him the girl perished beyond the falls he knew better. Without her cold, lifeless body in his arms he would not believe any mortal woman who spent time with the Dogs was dead with words alone.

In the grand room he normally found himself in when he wished to ponder and plot and think, a creature sat stone still, it's back to him when he entered. It did not greet him as he closed the door nor did it move when he strode to the empty seat at the front of the room. It was tall, hunch over as it was, with long limbs folded inward to take the least amount of space possible. Naraku felt the flimsy, slimy power that clung to the air surrounding the demon. He wanted to brush his flesh of the sensation, but he knew the creature was doing it deliberately.

"I see you found reason." He sneered, after his third attempt to contact this demon Naraku was about to send half his army to take care of him.

But this creature was old, it knew how to adapt and survive. It knew Naraku was not someone to trifle with.

"**My great overseer**," the creature had the raspy voice of a corpse, hissing its words through rows of slim, cuspidate teeth. Beyond the rasp and his hiss there was laughter in every word as if the demon took pleasure in a joke only beknownst to him. "**These are strange times we live in**. **The swamp clan has left its little hole and tracked its way to the Counsel**." There was sharp and unpleasant chuckle at that. "**The world is unsettled in the East**," he paused here, taking pleasure in some demented jest only he understood, "**The Dogs are on the move**."

"That is why I have summoned you, for that very reason. These _Dogs_" and Naraku spat the word with all the venom he held in his black heart, "must be held accountable. They should not roam the land as if it were theirs'."

The chuckling bubbled up halfway through his speech and grew loud in the dark room. "**But it **_**is**_** theirs' my overseer**." After a moment as if considering his words the demon spoke again, "**I am not here to deal with Dogs, am I, my overseer**?" There was no fear, no hesitancy, not even an ounce of curiosity as if the demon already knew why it was summoned.

"No. I will handle them. _You,_ however, I have a very special task in mind."

The creature looked up from its mock bow, the shadows hiding its face but not the sheer _glee_ that rolled off him in waves of anticipation. Slowly, his needle-like fangs bared in a macabre smile as the demon waited for its next hunt.

**NoMoreRunning**

"_Katsumi, you're terribly distracted." My Mother's voice is sharp, as she doesn't even glance at me. But at twelve I cannot sit still. I've been sitting for too long. Too long. I need to get out. I need to run._

_No. I need to flee._

"_It will get you killed one day," she offers her advice as if she were telling me to grab a jacket before I go outside. Obvious and tiresome; she's said it a hundred times before. _

_My eyes stick to the window. There is something out there, something I need, and something that needs me. My fingers twitch as the drizzling rain peppers the glass, obscuring my vision but I can feel it deep in my bones._

_I need to flee._

_Can't sit still too long; can't be in one place too long. Can't be here; can't be there. I belong nowhere…_

"_Katsumi!"_

_Oh, she's calling me…_

"_Yes, Mother," I go to her on silent feet – won't disappoint her again with a creaking wood plank, I've learned my lesson from last time. _

"_Did you hear me?"_

"_Yes, Mother. You said I was going to get myself killed." Her strong hands, decorated in a set of crisscrossing X's along the back of one of them from a time in her youth – she had been distracted – caress my short hair almost gently. _

_Her smile was soft, all-knowing as she said, "You cannot afford distraction, Katsumi. You're wondering mind will get you into trouble one day." Her soft sigh ghosted against my cheek. "But remember," the hand with the X's wrapped around my throat, "an animal puts up the most fight when backed into a corner." _

_I nodded, not nearly as obvious and tiresome, but said a hundred and hundred times again. _An animal puts up the most fight when backed into a corner._ I am an animal, and I will fight until I can fight no more. _

"_Yes, Mother."_

_She stands with her hand still in mine. "Come, Katsumi. I have something for you." _

_The words settle heavy in my stomach as she leads me downstairs. Usually there is something I must do to get my parents' gifts. I must complete a task: Hold your handstand for one hour, Katsumi; speak to the mice, Katsumi. Can you make them move? Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it isn't; do this, do that, can you do this while you do that? _

_Yeah, I can do it._

_Yeah, I can move the mice._

_Yes, Mother. Yes, Father._

_But today she doesn't tell me what to do. Her strong hand, coarse and rough and sprinkled with calluses from her dueling knives, tugs gently as we round the staircase, pass through the living room with its plush sofa and warm décor that's hardly put to use, and together we stop at a set of double doors that lead to the back room. _

_I'm not allowed in the back room. When I'm older, when I'm less distracted Mother says I'll be allowed in the back room with the other Executioners. The creatures with the sharp, bright eyes that pin me like a frog to a dissection table; they prowl and crawl and slip silently through the house, a shadow where there was none. I feel an understanding with them, but I don't belong with them. They are the evolution of demons, blending in, standing guard, surviving in a world that doesn't want them. _

_My mother, with her short black hair cropped close to her scalp and her light brown eyes that do not touch her smile, looks down at me. Her black, long sleeved shirt hugs her thin frame close, her black pants with the seven pockets look baggy at first but that's just to keep her hidden knives from public eye. From the pocket inside the pant leg, against her calf, she pulls out a large key, polished a bright silver. _

"_You have so much to learn, but today you deserve to know what is expected of you. Don't you think?" It's a trick; it doesn't matter what I think. But I tighten my grip and nod to let her know I heard her and she unlocks the back room, pushes the double doors wide, and hauls me through them before the ominous thud seals my fate. _

Ama's voice is light, airy, and positively delightful to wake up to as the world filters through the hollow clunk of metal hitting pavement – the remnants of my dream floating away for now, waiting to come another time. I want to groan and twist away from the sunlight, but the cold and heavy rock in my stomach reminds me of the dream that ensnared me during the night. The woman who is my mother, was my mother; who can no longer be my mother sitting so nonchalantly as she shoves a twelve-year-old girl at the feet of a dark and twisted world. Before I went through the back room, I had no concept of the dark and what lived inside it.

I had lost all reasoning, all memories, and for three years Fuka and Kigu taught me to speak, read, write, and a number of things I should've known but didn't because everything would have somehow reminded me that I was a demon from a different time than where I was. Probably as they taught me to speak, they realized I could manipulate the world around me. A defense mechanism, not easily deterred by a father's love and protection. And after they began to understand my Influence, they realized I was natural with grace and motion and direction; the beginnings of my training into a living weapon.

When I turned twelve, my world, the broken mess it was, shattered completely as I was lead into that back room. Half-breeds, demons, blood and silver, it was to be my world now, and I would be lying if I said I wanted no part in it.

"Oh! You're awake!" Ama smiled, warmly and cheerfully as a woman without nightmares hunting her would. Her hands were tangled in her sister's waist-length white gold hair, twisting it and twining it into braids and knots and the curly, thick mass held whatever she did without pins and ties. Myou's serene face eased some of the nightmarish memory away and I pulled my booted foot under me to start the day.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" I stretched and situated the tunic and pants more comfortably.

Ama frowned, "I tried but you wouldn't stir. 'It must have been so long since you last slept,' I thought. So I didn't want to disturb you." Her large, green-gold eyes blinked at me and I patted her shoulder as I strode to the edge of the cave we camped last night. We had been walking for four days and three nights. Our stamina was extraordinary but I was slower and still getting used to being a demon and we stopped frequently for me.

We hid our tracks as best we could, but I wasn't looking to hide anymore. Sesshomaru was coming for me, and there was nothing that would stop him. I had no doubt that she-demon that knocked me out would put up much of a fight for him, and if he had Rin and Jaken and Youkou to look after then the three days I stayed in the providence were all the handicap I was going to get.

Youkou…The little lake demon…Sesshomaru snagged her from the north for my sake. Would he take his rage out on her? God knows there is only so much a cornered animal can take.

No. Sesshomaru wasn't the kind of Demon Lord to attack unjustly – or unjustly in his eyes. Youkou was absolved of guilt; this was between the two of us.

Myou pulled on my sleeve to get my attention and proceeded to make several, quick, elaborate gestures. It seemed Influencing – or _singing_ – to myself to remember _everything_ meant I remembered how to read Myou as well. I shouldn't have, by all rights. It'd been so long ago that I sat and "spoke" with her. Yet, I understood her perfectly.

Everything you ever forgot when you were a child, think about remembering it all within the span of a few seconds – it's like my head is full to bursting with memories.

"We'll be there soon," I reassured her.

We'd cross the Eastern Lands yesterday, sticking to unmarked paths and skirting around demon territories Ama could find – only once did we come across a group of demons, a pack of wolves with a loud Alpha that flirted with Myou until Ama sent him and his pups running with their tails between their legs.

I'm still not sure what language she speaks when she Sings, but the purpose had been clear – "Get the hell away from her!"

I laughed the rest of the day, thinking of Ama as an intimidating threat to all demonkind!

She blushed, the modest, little thing, and said she was hardly a threat.

But I kept my head down, my face covered with Ama's cloak as best I could. It'd be a real shame to give Sesshomaru the advantage and actually have someone _tell_ him where I was. Mustn't let the Demon Lord have all the fun. He'd just get bored.

Ama and Myou knew a smidge of what was happening. They didn't know _who_ only that someone was definitely chasing me, and I wanted to be found. Reasoning isn't worth my time, and Ama figured that one out fairly quickly. She stayed with me and asked me questions about my father and my time in the land on the other side of the well.

Wasn't much to say, so she stuck with answering questions about our kind.

And it is easy to say "our" kind. Truly, it should be difficult and unexplainable and I should be indirectly resetting my reality. But my reality has been eschewed for far too long, and now that everything is in its proper place there is no need to deny the truth. My father's spell no longer holds any sway so I have no reason to make up reality to fit my fraying sanity.

I am a demon. A Mononoke, a singing demon, one of the sirens, a Nightingale of old – there is no limit to our history nor our touch on the earth since, according to Ama, we are a nomadic people.

"Lonely Wonderers," she called us last night as she told me legends and stories of our people.

It's all rather exciting. And it would have been more so if I didn't have to worry about Sesshomaru at my back.

I had heightened stamina, incredible reflexes, sensitive hearing; all standard demony skills. My diet didn't seem to change dramatically, although Ama said we stayed close to liquids, far from dried foods, and apparently have a hankering for fruit every now and again. My eyesight didn't improve – much to my dismay – but that's because we use our ears to see. Speech and hearing are an important part of our culture and way of life. We had songs for celebration and mourning; our ways past down by mouth.

And we are not a fighting sort.

Ama and Myou did not like I kept my weapons. Myou tried to tell me that now that I knew who I was I had no need of them.

But she's wrong.

The silver is as much a part of who I am as my Influence, as the stories Ama told me last night.

It isn't easy explaining that to the two, so much like children, so I told them I could protect them better like this. They didn't bring it up again, but we left it unsaid that if anything were to come after us we could _Sing _our way out of.

As we cleared the brush I found what I was looking for. A town, and in the very center of that town, sitting on a stone pedestal and looking all white and grand for the world to see was a castle. Now all I had to do was gain entrance and meet up with an old friend.

**NoMoreRunning**

The city was unlike anything I have come across yet. It bustled and pulsed with a life of its own. Cobblestone streets with wagons and mules and horses, street wares and merchants, shoppers and pick-pockets, the veins of the city flowed and ebbed as the throngs of people were carried here and there with little protest. It was clean in the sense it wasn't polluted with the desperate. Dirt from a hard earned living dusted the buildings and street, but it smelled of earth.

Demons and humans called out their trade much like the city Sesshomaru took me to. But the key difference between the two was that at the center, the heart beating its life energy through the stone veins was a castle sitting high on an elevated pedestal. Its polished white walls gleamed in the bright sun and shined as a beacon. The tiled roof was deep, rich blue, bright and colorful – freshly painted if I had a first guess.

_That_ was where we were heading.

"I don't like cities," Ama sniffed as she gripped my sleeve tightly.

I held Myou's hand and when I caught her eye I said, "Do not leave my side." She nodded and I turned to Ama for her promise as well.

With even, sure strides, I marched to the palace of the great city. We caught the eyes of several but we were quick and steady and looked as if we had places to be and people expecting us. No one would jump someone who was _expected _anywhere. And I had my twin daggers at the small of my back, my hidden wrist knives and two throwing knives within easy reach – and by the way I walked I was very certain there were a pair of eyes somewhere in the crowd that recognized a woman with weapons and the skill to use them. Even if the cloak covered everything there was no way I expected to be completely ignored – what with Ama now standing out in the open with her white-gold hair swaying with her hips.

I don't have much experience with old Japanese castles, but this one was beautiful and grand as it overlooked its city. The tiled roof curved up in mischievous smiles on every level, perhaps a specific designed or a commonplace elegance – as I said, I'm not an expert. But there were guards, several in fact, and they roamed the streets in bright blue armor miles from the palace itself. The metal was heavy and alerted me of their presence several minutes before I even saw them. Their helmets were uniform, a dome covered in little spikes and a circular medallion in the center.

Now that I was here, another problem I hadn't thought before got in my way. How was I supposed to get in?

I suppose I could go through the front doors, use my title and push my way until I got what I wanted. That sounded _easy_, actually.

Ama, Myou and I had already established our alibies – they were my attendees – and why we were travelling on foot and seeking out the Kingdom of the East. But…

But what?

Couldn't one thing go right? Was that so much to ask for?

Settled, I gathered Ama and Myou and marched up to the front gates of the palace. A nasty looking troll with the sickest green skin, a few more horns than even he knew what to do with and that same medallion strung around his neck sneered down at me.

"No one visits the Lord without a summons."

I grinned as placidly as possible, "I understand, but it is of the upmost important that I speak to your lord."

His glare did not falter, "Are you deft, wench? _No one_ is allowed."

I stiffened, "Perhaps I did not make myself clear, I _must_ speak with your lord immediately."

The troll flicked his giant, stubby hand and four guardsmen flanked out around us. I wasn't looking for trouble. In fact, I probably beat my record by staying out of trouble for the last four days as we traveled to here. Here, to a gate where some troll was telling me I couldn't pass.

And if it isn't someone telling me what I can't do that irks me to no end…

One of the guards seized Myou's upper arm roughly; her eyes cried if her voice couldn't. And before anyone could fathom what would happen next, the man was suddenly knocked completely off his feet and sent flat on his back. He gasped in stunned shock as his brothers blinked likewise.

I stared at Ama.

"No one touches my sister!" she snarled, and for such a pretty face she can make such and ugly sound. Her hand was taunt, stretched out before her, palm facing the guard at the ground, legs bent in an expert crouch. She didn't have much force, but she knew how to strike. Interesting, coming from the Mononoke who disapprove violence.

Still surprised beyond sarcasm, I clapped slowly at her commendable performance. It would have been funny at another time.

I mean, since the troll recovered first and commanded his men to take us prisoners and all; I would have to find another time to laugh at Ama. The one closest to me tripped as I flung the excess material of the cloak that dragged on the ground, once down I kicked him smartly in the face before I struck out my left leg to strike the next man who came at my back. I hit metal but metal hit dragonscales and the man crumpled as if he were made of paper.

The first man had finally gotten his feet beneath him and was about to pounce on Ama but she struck her hand out quick as a viper and he staggered back choking as his hand wrapped protectively around his throat. I would have to remember that move. There was only a tiny sliver of exposed flesh between the metal plates at the collarbone and chin, and Ama had seized opportunity where she could. Girl after my own heart.

As we dispatched his men, the troll began to sound an alarm, pulling one of his horns out of his head and calling in ten more men to his side. I sneered. How much longer could Ama and I keep this up? Myou was no warrior – Hell, Ama was hardly fighting with any true finesse! It wouldn't take them long to have us on our knees.

Worst case scenario, they kill us now. Even worst case scenario, Sesshomaru finds our dead bodies and burns the whole city to the ground in recompense for someone else taking his kill.

I flicked my hood back and brought my dueling blades before me, "I am Katsumi, Mate of Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands. **I am here to speak to your lord**!"

This time I see it because I know what to look for. Every guard flinches for half a second as their eyes glaze over just slightly. They hesitate by the force of my power and only some don't stop. The closest man pulls out a staff and I twist the blades within the next breath, splintering the wood and driving him back.

There is a crack of thunder and everyone stills as the troll snarls heavily. One meaty hand is wrapped around Myou's wrist, her eyes call out to me in agony and I see red for one horrible second. A roar sounds, it shakes the earth and my feet fail me as the rumble unsteadies my stance. But I am at Myou's side, holding her close as she curls over her twisted wrist.

I look up and see one of my blades stuck to the hilt in the trolls forearm.

Smoke swirls where silver touches flesh and the demon howls again as he looks at the blade then at me, pale gray eyes narrowed in recognition and I curse as I pushed Myou further behind me, Ama making small sounds of comfort near my ear.

This is Okunote's general. I only meet him once, and I was half-crazed from blood-loss and nerves when I had. But I'm sure it's him.

Suddenly but not a moment too soon, a charming and light voice breaks the silence that follows the wails of agony, "I leave you alone for two minutes. 'Change the guard, get some fresh air, try not to make a mess…' Why did I think you could follow just a few simple…" It trailed off as the man who spoke finally reached the mess at his front gates. Iron stood, tall and silent, between us. When Caribbean blue eyes met mine his caught his breath and I watch morbidly fascinated as a multitude of emotions crossed his features before he managed to catch hold of one and firmly set it in place. That lazy, boyish charm oozed from him as he flourished his rich silk robe, propped one hand on a hip, and leaned back on one leg. Something bright green twinkled from his ear like a mimic of a wink and his expensive robes slid slightly off his shoulders.

"My, my, Katsumi, what on earth brings you to my front door? Leaving a wake of wounded guards and a trial of blood?"

I laughed as I pushed my hair out of my face and rose slowly. "Just the usually, I had a spat with my dear husband and now I find myself on the run for my life with the devil at my heels."

His eyes narrowed, his brow pinched, his smirking lips pursed, and for one horrible instant I thought he was going to order me away. Or have his overbearing general not two feet from me relieve my head from my shoulders. But the moment passed and Okunoted laughed in that same boisterous way that warmed me down to my toes.

"You come seeking sanctuary from your own Mate?"

The very idea was laughable, if it wasn't so terribly true. "We seemed to have had some terrible quarrel and I know very little about taming a wild beast." My gaze flicked to the troll who seemed to be drooling and clutching his wrist and shaking near uncontrollably. "Perhaps we could discuss this inside? After I remove the bane from your good general's arm?"

Okunote looked to the troll as if he only just realized he was there, and in terrible pain. "Yes, yes," he waved a hand in our direction.

After putting the knife in my hand away I make quick strides to the troll, holding my hands up carefully. "This will hurt," I stated, kicking myself for being so stupidly obvious. But the troll only nodded and watched me with sharp eyes – eyes too sharp for such a dumb face.

I braced one hand on his meaty bicep and took the hilt in the other and with one sharp yank the silver was free and the troll yowled horribly, sending the birds in the nearby trees far away. The wound looked red and purple and blotchy against his yellow-green skin. It didn't heal, in no way it _should have_, the sliver of a whole plainly visible; maybe it would simply heal like that, as if he were supposed to have a whole there.

**NoMoreRunning**

It would appear that my plan did not involve what happened _after_ Okunote agreed to help me. I mean, I knew Sesshomaru was on his way. How could he not be!? We had a score to settle – and although leaving me to sit and fret and panic for several years until one day he shows up after I think for an instant he forgot about me to inflict horrible and agonizing torment upon me, he didn't have the patience at the moment. Nothing about Sesshomaru and I could be labeled as normal by any means. We were a pair of awfully dysfunctional warriors, with warrior mindsets. There was very little normal going on right now.

That said, waiting sucks.

I know he's coming. Deep down, I can feel his persistence; his drive, his white hot anger – don't ask me how I know – it's like when a storm is coming. There's a change in the air, the very _taste_ of it telling you something forbearing is coming and you need to get out. Get out now!

But I'm done with running. I've found my last stand. And I should probably apologize to Okunote now for the property damage about to be inflicted upon his home, but that's not entirely necessary. I mean, we could very well talk this whole thing out.

And a unicorn with pink wings will randomly show up and take us far, far away where we will happily ever after.

"My lady?"

I stared at Okunote, stunned speechless by the fact that he almost was as boyishly handsome when he appeared moderately concerned than when he laughed carelessly. We sat upon a simple stone bench in the middle of the Lord's garden. The garden was ornate and beautiful, as expected of such a grand place. Well, one half was. The other was burned to a still smoldering crisp.

"Did the orchids offend you, my lord?" I smiled sweetly as I gestured to the ash that was swept up by a light breeze.

The Eastern Lord snorted, and managed to sound dapper as he did so, "Everything here bares _her_ mark." The words were level, but something in his eyes betrayed his rage.

What do you say about the demon you murdered in a duel, and forced the man before you to take her job – notwithstanding the fact that he worked _for_ her for so long. If anyone bore witness to Tayorinai's hideous affairs, it was Okunote. As her general he was in no position to argue with her. Generals should only speak out of turn in times of war, when their expertise was expected of them. But there were no wars between the four lords – little power squabbles, always, but no wars.

I held out my hand, offering comfort to him in his anger, and touching a man while married would have been outrageous. Even if Sesshomaru and I had "_spat_" I was in no position to merely touch Okunote on the shoulder as I would have liked. And if I hadn't remembered everything, I probably would have touched him and caused such an unnecessary uproar. Though I'm by no means hiding, I can only handle one dire situation at a time.

With a smile, small and fragile as it may have appeared, and a light laugh he took my hand and gentle pressed his lips to my fingers before letting me go. I withheld the strong inclination to rub my hand against my new, clean, silk _kimono_. After allowing myself and my "attendees" to a much needed bath, Okunote offered the three of us fresh clothes. Ama and Myou had simple and plain powder blue robes and I had some tight and elaborate…_thing_. Hardly as practical as the black gear I had earlier, and a rich assortment of dark blues, I had a terrible feeling that this little number would do very little in placating Sesshomaru into talking at all. The East style was different than the West; the sleeves fell off my shoulders on purpose, the material dipping low into a V in the front making another scrap of silk necessary to hide any cleavage. There was ruffled silk at the neckline, a pale silver blue much like the foam of a cresting wave, and more at the bottom brushing the pointed toe of my dragonscale boots.

The sleeves belled out wide, swallowing my thin arms in softness, and there was no thick, heavy belt at my stomach. Instead the material sunk in at my waist and tied with a simple shiny cord of midnight blue. The silk flowed out at my knees, but there was another skirt underneath of a heavier stain that caught up of legs when I walked. It was pretty, all dark blues and cold silvers, but it felt strange after wearing the other style _kimono_ for so long. Even as Ama and Myou gushed at the fabric like women do, a weight seemed to settle uncomfortably on my chest as I met Okunote in the garden.

Not like I had any other options for clothing, no doubt Okunote had burned the worn and filthy gear for desecrating his pretty palace.

If Sesshomaru came now I would make easy prey.

"My lady, you must forgive me of my curiosity, but I have to ask…"

He trailed off as if embarrassed. "Why would I come to _you_ and not somewhere else? Somewhere closer to home?"

His grin was mischievous; he was not apologetic at all in his curiosity. "My dear lady, you seem to read me like words on parchment." I smiled and waved off his unabashed flirting. "But since the lady has brought it up, would it not have been easier to seek refuge somewhere else, until your husband settles?"

I huffed at the mention of Sesshomaru, as if I were still stung from something as insignificant as an argument. I'd say the _real_ argument was the matter of my life, specifically Sesshomaru wishing to end it and me wishing to keep it. But that would be entirely too much for me to divulge to the innocent bystander Okunote was. "I am but a new mate of Sesshomaru," I said. "His people hold loyalty to him first – as well they ought to!" I rushed so as not to sound as if I were looking for power. "Would they not throw me to their feet if Sesshomaru were to ask it? Is it not the way to obey the orders of your Lord?"

Okunote raised one polished, caramel eyebrow at my silly rant. "You and I," I turned closer to him now on the stone bench we shared my knees brushing his as I leaned slightly forward as if to whisper a secret in his ear. To both our surprises, I think, he leaned in close as well. "You hold no oath to Sesshomaru first. You and I, I do believe we are friends. Are we not?"

He laughed that loud and commanding sound that forced its joy onto others. I felt the warmth from my toes all the way to my fingers and I grinned madly even with the thought of death swiftly coming to claim me at the back of my mind. When he caught my grin he shook his head, "Oh, my lady! You speak as if I have not known our dear Sesshomaru since he was a fledgling!"

"You two grew up together?" I didn't have to force the excitement into my voice – I'd guess right about these two!

"Well," Okunote said, "hardly _together_, but we are of similar age and similar linage. Our families have been prominent in the growing of this island." His warm, blue eyes held mine and glittered with mirth. "What makes you say I would not hand his wife over if he were to ask it?"

I sat back, smirking and Okunote blinked, suddenly wary of me. "You won't, though."

His eyes still cautious he said slowly, "That right?"

"Oh, indeed." I stood, carefully since there was so much _kimono_ hanging heavily and this was my moment to bask in unmistakable glory, not trip. "For you enjoy tormenting my husband, Okunote. You are not his friend, but you are mine."

He snorted in that adorable way of his and watched me steadily, "You use that word, but I am unaware of when it came to be that we became friends."

My smile grew, and there was very little acting and all real pleasure in closing in on the deal. "The day you offered your arm to me – not favors or threats, not revenge or contempt – you simply asked to take me to my husband without asking for little else."

For one second the world was still; the wind fled, the sounds of birds muted, even the soft sound of Ama's simple singing disappeared as we watched one another. Okunote broke the spell first. "I am not entirely blameless," he said at last.

"What man is when he speaks to a beautiful woman?" I shrugged and hoped it looked as elegant when Ama did it.

He laughed, quietly as if I startled it out of him. "No, but yes, I mean, I had wished to insult Sesshomaru when I escorted you. I had hoped to anger him."

And this time I laughed. There is very little to laugh about back…on the other side of the well. Of course there's the morbid humor of the Executioners, if you don't laugh you cry, and if you don't do that you tend to go mad within the hour. But Sesshomaru, Rin, Youkou, Ama, Myou, and even Okunote seem to pull from me a sound I didn't even know I possessed: true laughter. It shocked me to hear it that I cut it short unconsciously.

Okunote rose and came to me, "You should do that more often."

I hummed in amusement before I poked him in the chest. It was against the forms of proper etiquette, so sue me, but I felt that restrictions were hardly on Okunote's mind as they were on mine. "We are friends Okunote, whether you believe it or not it is the truth. And as such I think I should have you on my side for this little battle."

His smirk held all the crafty cunning of a clever teenage boy, mildly terrifying if utilize correctly. "What would the lady have of me then? Play the knight and protect her from the dragon?"

"No." all joking was gone as I gasped the word and Okunote must have realized something else was going on than a simple quarrel. I hurried to cover my tracks, "I can handle Sesshomaru, and so do not fear. But I ask that you do not step in at all." He frowned, opened his mouth as if to protest and I silenced him as I rushed on, "Please, Okunote. Swear that you will not betray my trust. Do not step in. Only support me if I do not calm him myself."

Of course, by then I would be rightfully dead and Okunote would probably have no choice but to cast out Sesshomaru to save his honor for letting the blood of his guest be spilt.

No need to tell Okunote all that, I mean, if I don't say it out loud maybe it won't happen.

"Support you, my lady?" his frown did not vanish. "It sounds as if you are to go to war here in my garden."

I shook my head, "It would probably be in the courtyard," I waved to the space behind him, "less property damage if we could contain it."

Something dark passed over Okunote's face. His lips pressed together so hard the color was gone from them. I reached up and touched the man's golden hair. The contact brought his eyes back to mine. "I will trust you to uphold your word, Okunote."

He almost shook his head but I held him still, "Please swear to me that you will not interfere."

For a very long time we stood like that I, reaching with my hand nearly straight as I cupped the side of his head, and he, bent only slightly forward as his emotions flashed across his face like lightning. The rhythm changed in Ama's song, something soft and soothing skipped into something almost sorrowful, the wind tussled our clothing and hair for a breath before everything went still. Finally he took a breath and rushed out the words, "I swear to you, Katsumi, that I will be your support and will not interfere with the affairs between you and your mate."

The words felt hollow as he uttered that last word as if it pained him. Sesshomaru was not my mate. If Okunote acted impulsively and tried anything then he would be absolutely able to do so with no consequences. I hoped it would be the taboo of breaking an oath that would hold him back.

I smiled, for I was very glad that he had accepted my terms, and the sight of it seemed to ease Okunote for a moment as he straightened, taking my wrist and pulling my hand away from him. He did not let me go as I had thought and when I raised my eyebrows in question he grinned madly, "But I will protect you should our Sesshomaru do anything but speak to you about your affairs," and just for demented pleasure he added, "my lady."

Perhaps I had not thought this plan completely through.

_That _would probably get me killed, regardless of what I've been told all my life.

**NoMoreRunning**

That night, I slept fitfully. Sesshomaru reached out to me in the shadows, clawed hands ghostly white in the darkness as burning gold eyes caught mine. And I was running again. In jeans and a t-shirt, through a gray city as rain poured on us, I ran but moved as if caught in a pool of syrup. Only I seemed to be moving slowly, the rain hitting me like little needles of ice and Sesshomaru was getting closer.

"_Katsumi_!" and with his voice I was rushed in a torrent of rainwater, gathered by wave after wave until it took every fiber of my being to keep my head above water. The city disappeared, the pavement, the cars, the buildings, nothing but water all around me pulling me this way and that, twisting me about and shoving me into dizziness and fear. The sky flashed with gold lightning as Sesshomaru's voice thundered from every direction. Even as I struggled to breath, the rain seemed bent on drowning me if the ocean didn't.

In one swell I was tossed onto land, meeting it with all the grace of a dying man, hitting something at the very least pliable and managing only a bruise as I pulled my heavy body away from the shore. Inky black waves reached for me like too-long fingers and I realized I was wearing Okunote's _kimono_. It took more effort than it should have to stand, but the material was heavy even without the added weight of water. Finally, I half-dragged myself over a hill and found a world of sand. It was dark, the sky an angry violet as the gold lightning flashed like a searchlight. The rain had stopped, as I breathed raggedly and walked a few steps forward.

I don't know this place, but the water is getting closer, stretching forth its hand to seize me and drag me under again. Running again, I tripped over the material and tumbled down the hill, and this hit was not nearly as painless. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, I shove my hair out of my face, and it was _much too long_ as it curled and spiraled down my back. It was dark, darker than black, and no longer wet but it _is_ wild and fluffy. And a harsh breeze jostled it a mass of it back into my face, forcing me to use both hands to push it back again.

How can demons handle so much hair?

I shove off the top layer of the _kimono_, letting the low V-neck and ruffled silk pool at my feet – bare feet, all ten toes wiggling in the sand. The second layer is the heavier one, but I feel much better with less material hanging on my arms. Lightning flashes again, the waves sound rougher and closer and I pull up my skirt to run again.

"I thought you were done running?" Sesshomaru's cold voice whispers in my ear with his haughty and overbearing tone and I cry out at the intimacy of his breath hitting my neck. I stumble, but thank goodness I'm not flat on my back, before I spin around. Only dark skies and endless sand. I turn to go but I feel him so close I freeze as if I'm surrounded by ice. "Why are you fleeing me, Katsumi?"

"You're going to kill me," I say to the air that isn't so empty. Something is definitely out there.

His chuckle – _Oh, his chuckle! _– is everywhere at once, settling on my skin and raising gooseflesh. It's dark and amused and so sinful my knees quake and my stomach twists and my body aches for one more touch. "Perhaps I will."

I take a step back.

"What makes you think I would kill you?" Sesshomaru asks and I can almost see his gorgeous face with one eyebrow raised as he looks down at me.

"Well, you didn't remind me of a helpless kitten the last time I saw you."

The chuckle again, everywhere and coming from nowhere, dark and smooth, rich and clever, "My Katsumi, our lives are tied. I could no more kill you than cut off my remaining hand."

I barked out a strenuous laugh, it sounded fragile and broken, "We're not tied together anymore, Sesshomaru. You know that!"

Suddenly, not by any shift in the air or sand or by a sudden stillness in the storm, I knew he was standing behind me. I could not hear him, not see a shadow of his presence, I couldn't catch a scent or pick up on the tension that was always between the two of us; but I knew he was there. I flinched, wrapping my arms around myself to hid away. The _need_, desperate and unexplainable need to touch him again was stronger than I had anticipated.

"Our lives are tied," he repeated, his voice most definitely coming from behind me, mere inches behind me.

But I shook my head, "Not anymore."

"Oh Katsumi," his hand stroked my bare shoulder, his thumb pushing the thin strap off it. "_My Katsumi_." And there was raw power in his words, ensnaring me as if he possessed the Influence and not I. Shivering from his touch, his presence, his power, from the very thought that if I just turned around I would see him again I felt tears fall down my cheeks.

Life just isn't fair, you know.

I snatched his hand to make sure if I turned around he would be there. And when I did, hot, gold eyes caught my breath and held it. His claw marks were stark against his white flesh, the crescent moon at his forehead looked as blue as a bruise, one fang peeked out from his full lips – lips too lovely for a man, I remember thinking a long time ago. He bore no armor, only red and white and violet and the fluffy garment I couldn't imagine him without. No swords at his hip, no glowing whip at his hand – the hand I gripped so tightly both his and mine were shaking.

"You're real?" it came out too quiet, too small, too damned scared.

A quirk of his lips made my knees give out completely. And he was catching me, one hand pressed between my shoulders, his chest against mine. "I am very real, my Katsumi."

I laughed, a wet and hollow and _defeated_ sound. "I've missed you." If possible these words came out quieter than the ones before them. It felt good to say them, even if this was only a dream and I would never have admitted it out loud under pain and torture. It was like relieving one's life of a lie, a lie you had been forced to live with, forced to accept even if it went against every moral fiber of your being. I sighed and buried my face against his chest. Warmth enveloped me as he moved to accompany my indulgence.

"I will be there soon, with you." The promise was dark, foreboding like a prophesy you never want to come true. But the anticipation and excitement they brought chased away my fear if for only a moment.

But I already knew he was coming for me. At least he wouldn't keep me waiting for much longer. "I am waiting for you."

The world fizzled and crackled as if the edges of a photo were burning. Slowly the fire would reach the picture, the embracing couple at the center of it, and then I would have to go back to reality – a reality without Sesshomaru holding me up. "I will be there soon." He repeated as the sand moved around us in a flurry of a storm. His grip seemed to be drifting, his voice far away, his scent and his strength all leaving me with great reluctance.

"I will be there soon…"

**Can I do a cliffhanger or can I do a cliffhanger? Ha ah! You know, I added the dream as a last minute thought. I mean, we haven't see Sesshomaru and SOOOOO long I thought a little teasing couldn't hurt. **

**As always, please review, comment, praise, bash – but with good reasoning – and offer me any other forms of feedback to that the motivation is there I don't put this story on the back burner. I'm gonna try **_**REALLY**_** hard not to put the story on the shelf during school. And with your help I'll put homework second and the next update first! Help me procrastinate people!**


	25. What is Brought with the River

**Alrighty! So this little baby, the one you've been patiently (and some not-so-patiently) waiting for since SIX chapters ago, is dedicated to **SweetXWhisper **and to **Ryanrene97 **the first two to review chapter 24. **_**And **_**I must say, they were on complete opposite sides about how Sesshomaru was going to react when we see him again that I giggled madly. You two lovely readers get the most anticipated chapter thus far, congratulations! **

**A special shout out to **Dontgotaclue88 **for being my 200****th**** reviewer! Yay you!**

**Give me an awesome review that makes me laugh and the next chapter could be dedicated to you! Yay!**

**I need to apologize for sending this out so late. But the truth was I had to revise, reedit, reread, and redo so many things. It just had to be **_**perfect **_**you know? So, here it is, after much slaving about! Enough about me, obviously you're just scrolling by anyway…**

Chapter 25: What's brought with the River

The morning was sunny and bird chirped lazily in the distance, still loud enough to annoy me from a fitful sleep. I found my fists clenched tightly in the sheets, sweat drenching the cocoon I seemed to have rolled myself up in. With a small shout I shoved at the linen until it lay begotten on the floor. Shows them, for trying to suffocate me in my sleep.

Blue and bright, the sky held not a single fluffy blemish, no ominous black thunder or frightening lightening, no rain to signal my upcoming doom.

No, the birds were freaking singing!

"Katsumi!" Ama burst through the small door that led to her and Myou's chamber. She looked startled and more rumpled than I had ever seen her – which just meant her hair was a little more fluffy than normal. Perks of being a demon? Or perhaps she's just naturally annoying like that. Myou appeared just behind her with wide, worried green-gold eyes.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," I waved off Ama as she rounded the futon to kneel beside me. My muttering didn't convince her. "Really, Ama," using her name didn't quell her, but she refrained from touching me.

"Did I cry out in my sleep again?" getting up took way too much effort to spare looking up in her direction.

Myou answered my question, lightly resting her hand on my forearm. You wouldn't think Ama and Myou were over half a decade old just by looking at them. Heck! You wouldn't think they were in their thirties just by looking at them!

Their wide eyes made them appear far too innocent, too trusting.

I sighed and patted Myou's hand before looking at Ama. "He'll be here soon."

Ama bit her lip before the words tumbled out regardless. "How did you get involved with the Lord of the West? You were only on this side for a few weeks!"

I laughed – if only she _knew_. "He and I…we…huh." There didn't seem to _be _words for what Sesshomaru and I were. "We had a mutual task," which was terribly inappropriate, "and then found ourselves seeking a mutual ending," hardly like the _ordeal_ the pearlescent bands actually were, "and before we even knew what was happening," _oh, _we knew more than either of us will ever admit, "we held a mated bond." And stated like that my last two months sound nothing like the horrifying nightmare they had been.

I buried my face into my hands. Why was I even embarrassed about this?

"And now he's bent on killing you." Ama deadpanned in a disbelieving, older-sibling kind of way. I mean, in the way I imagine an older sibling would sound if they knew you were lying and simply waiting for you to cave before they wring the truth from you. Her eyes shimmered like hard emeralds in the same way Kagome's would at her little brother.

I pulled my hands away from my face, "Yes." Sulking would do me know good. _Dreaming_ about Sesshomaru not killing me didn't make it reality.

I could still see that hot glare of his in Chimitsu's cavern before I ran for my – back then – mortal life. Which was something I really needed to address…

"How do we die?"

Ama and Myou flinched as if I had hit them. Myou shuttered before turning away to the closet with my barrowed clothes. Leaving Ama to answer the unpleasant question. She huffed, patting her hair absentmindedly before her eyes caught mine. "We can die very easily, Katsumi. We don't have tough skin or great power over the forces."

"We can Infl – uh, Sing."

"Yes," she drew the word out warily. "But we are not a fighting kind. We _defend_."

I frowned at that. "Defend what?"

"Everything," she spread her hands wide, "We are responsible for keeping order where there is none." She bit her lip, catching something in my face that obviously meant I wasn't happy with her words. "We don't destroy, Katsumi. Our duty is to defend."

Although it was so long ago, because I had used my Influence on myself the memories of my once forgotten childhood came to me as if I heard the words just yesterday.

"_There is order to the world, my Little One, and you cannot alter that order… We help, we do not control."_

I sighed and shook my head. So, I was doomed. Sesshomaru would kill me, or to be accurate: He would try to kill me, and thus kill Okunote for stepping in as his honor would dictate, and when Okunote was dead _then_ he would kill me.

Influencing Sesshomaru wasn't an option. Even if I was completely aware of my demonic origins, beyond breaking the limits of my human stamina not much else had changed. I suppose my reflexes were sharper, I might be a little faster, but that came with training and honing of such skill. All I had was my training as a _human_.

And not much practice at being a demon.

My influence only scratched the surface, hardly worth the breath it'd take to utter a word.

Myou began helping me dress while Ama started pulling my hair away from my face. It was long enough for her to twist a few strands back and pile on top of my head. They knew me now, knew that I had my silver and I couldn't wear a multi-layered _kimono _this time. Sesshomaru was coming for me and it wasn't going to be a pretty thing when he did. Inevitable as it was, I'd have to defend _myself_ against Sesshomaru.

And even if they didn't agree with that, they'd still make sure I'd look fabulous doing it.

**WithTheRiver**

For the first time in a very long time the hand on my dueling knife was shaking. I gripped the hilt harder, bit the inside of my cheek, narrowed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Sesshomaru was coming – don't know how I know. Maybe it's like a sixth sense, something primal that awakens when true demise knocks at your door. Maybe it's the lingering remnants of the dream; Sesshomaru's voice caressing my ears. _"I will be there soon, with you."_

Whatever it is, it's almost worse than not knowing. This anticipation, it's new and thoroughly unwelcomed. I'd rather the days when I blindly charged in; consequences be damned!

My fingers touched the fabric on my stomach, tracing the mark beneath, the only scar that seemed to stay it seemed. That same hand should be covered in tiny little scratches from the tolkies; there should be evidence of the duel with Tayorinai, the other hand should be all pink and shiny with healed skin. I should be bedridden from a blotch of roughly patched flesh at my right side – where a frickin' _hand_ had been shoved into my stomach!

But there is no evidence of anything. Not of my one-man battle with Wulx and his pack. Not of the scraps and burns from my curious childhood. Not a single mark of proof of all my trials. No, all I have is a nasty, little strip from one side to the other, reddish and slightly raised, uglier than I thought before I fell down the well. Because now, it's all that mars my skin – and only now do I notice that fact.

I can feel Okunote's eyes on my face so I school my features into a cool mask. But my hand just won't stop shaking! We are standing at the highest level, the only one with a patio outside, with the best view. When he comes, I will be the first to see him. Of course, he will have a perfect view of me, but that's the point.

No more running.

Why won't my hand stop shaking?

"So," Okunote's voice is light, charming, as he leans against the intricate railing of his castle. But there is something dark underlining his carefree words, "You never said what you and Sesshomaru _argued_ about." The emphasis is not lost on me.

I don't say anything.

"For you to _run_ so far, to come to _me_…It must have been something…_strenuous_." Still not a question; still no answers from me. "I mean, I saw you face down Tayorinai with less fear." He tripped over the former Lord. His memories seem to take him away from me for a moment and I clench my teeth until it hurts. It isn't right, but I let him disappear into his dark past. Selfish, but I have bigger things to worry about.

Like how every time a bird flies into my peripheral vision I flinch.

Like how I can feel the bead of sweat at the nape of my neck but I feel cold all over.

Like how my hand just won't stop shaking!

**WithTheRiver**

_I don't really know what to think as Mother grips my hand harder, dragging me behind her as she shoves the double doors to the backroom open. They fly back and hit the wall with a resounding bang. I don't jump. But I clench my teeth until it hurts. The others in the room don't jump either, but they tense. Seven individuals with a multitude of colored eyes vary between relaxing and tensing further. _

_I've only ever seen glimpses, glances, a shadow here, and shape there, but never outright in the light of day have I stared at the Executioners. Half-breeds, with their red and violet and gold eyes and the humans with their scars and sneers. I don't separate the two; both are dangerous, both are monsters. They all live in the night; all have red on their hands._

_Mother doesn't slow. She pulls me through the first room in a brisk pace. We stride briskly through the room on silent feet; I won't disappoint her again with an audible thud. Tables are set up haphazardly, sporadic, with cards and cash and glasses cluttering the surfaces. This serves a recreation, where the concrete is splattered with dark stains and the pool table is beaten and worn and the dart board looks like it once served as a werewolf's chew toy. Executioners are not known for their bedside manners. _

_They are a violent lot, all of them. _

_I suppose that'll be me too, then. _

_Another set of double doors burst in the explosion of Mother's rush. She's anxious. More anxious than I ever seen her, she strides down this room with a purpose. The half-breeds here watch with catlike tenacity as we pass them, the padding on the floor and walls tells this is the sparring room. More blood stains here, more frequent, thicker, darker, and there is less of an empty echo than in the Rec Room. _

_My stomach stays behind as Mother turns down a hallway and makes a sharp right to shove at a single door. This room is by far the nicest. The floors are hardwood and polished and gleaming – as the half-breeds are ordered to clean it every morning before practice. The padded section in the center doesn't look painful to hit, and not marked with a single drop of blood. There are bars and chains hanging from the ceiling and three Executioners pause in their aerial exercise to peer down at me. _

_The pair in the center pulls back as Mother walks without stopping. Until we take their place. For one sickening second I wonder if I have to fight my mother, again. It isn't a pleasant activity, but usually we don't serve as entertainment to the Executioners who followed us inside from the very beginning. A crowd gathers in a half-circle around us. _

_My stomach is not among them. A no show, probably. It might be for the best._

_But the garage door to my back opens, slowly, ominously and I realize I can't clench my teeth any harder, so I curl one hand into a fist – let the bite of my fingers digging into my palm satisfy the need to run. Father stands from his crouch, a couple of Executioners follow him. Their dark clothes are slick with no doubt blood, a dark green blood. _

_My throat went dry, but not at the blood. Three Executioners dragged in a lizard-demon. Arms were not supposed to bend that way, bound and wiggling and bleeding the demon's cold, black eyes are blank as the creature is dragged into the room without protest. There had been a slit of acid green, marking it for its reptilian heritage, but the mess the Executioners dropped before Mother and I was merely a shadow of its true self. As it lay in a mass of broken bones and meat I saw it was missing a foot and blood poured from the unattended wound like a macabre waterfall. _

_Miserable, weak, and above all I noted with a certain _distain _the creature appeared to have given up entirely. _

_Father left his group to stand next to Mother, watching me expectantly. Together they pulled back from me, inching slowly away from the once pristine mat to stand with the crowd. I looked back at the pathetic mess of a once proud demon but nothing happened. Were they expecting me to _fight_ it? That wasn't entirely fair. It wouldn't be the first time, of course, but that was usually with half-breeds doped up on downers to impair their judgment and offer me a building block in my future of blood and violence. _

_But this…This wasn't fair. This wouldn't be a fight at all. _

_It wasn't until Father handed me a silver dagger – as according to tradition – that all the pieces fell into place – neat, orderly pieces of a puzzle finally fitting together to show off the picture it was intended to be. I took the hilt without hesitation – reflexes honed in – and took the three strides to the lizard-demon. Close enough to recognize his breed's particular scale pattern, the skin that should have glimmered green and gold and orange was black with its dry blood, and something inside me wanted to turn and flee from his black and green stare. _

_Another part, hidden underneath the gore and violence and pain, small and feeble like a newborn kitten wanted to reach out to the demon and _fix_ it. _

_But it was so small, so young, so malnourished that I quickly shooed the thought away. _

_It was only the demon and I that day. With the garaged door slammed shut and the lights dimmed low it could have been night; probably in some sort of Hollywood set they would have preferred something so terrible to be done in the cover of darkness. But we are Executioners; we don't just live in the night. We hunt it down. And as I stood so close to the demon as to trace the pattern of his scales I felt utterly alone. It may not even have been the demon and I, but simply me._

_Until the demon spoke. _

_Then my hand started shaking._

_And on my life I will never tell another living soul what it said. _

_How could I? How could I tell my parents, as they stood as observers and watched in contained pride as their daughter entered their world? How could I have said to the Executioners as they slaughtered and maimed and hunted at my side? _

_How was I supposed to confess the absolute hatred I had for myself in that moment, my hand shaking so terribly that I could have sliced at my own thigh – probably not have noticed. As the dagger carved horizontally through the air, the lizard-demon hissed a sigh and muttered for my ears alone: "Thank you." Then its lifeblood spilled from the deep gash in it neck, chocking on its on life, never again to suck in a breath, never again to feel the pulse of its life in its veins, and never again did I have a dreamless sleep. _

_I never forgot that day, my first kill. My nightmares never let me forget. _

**WithTheRiver**

The sun reached its zenith and I bit my cheek as I heard a flutter of movement behind me. Ama, probably – she'd be fretting about how I haven't eaten anything yet. My stomach was too busy doing cartwheels to probably keep anything down, anyway. And she was no doubt in a frenzy as to how to address her accumulating worry and my standoffish behavior. At another point in time I'll apologize. You know, if I'm not a headless mess after this.

_Don't be absurd! Sesshomaru's not going to decapitate you_.

No, no. You're right, conscious. He'll vaporize me like he did those demons back at the Counsel. That's what he'll do. No mess, no fuss. Or something or other.

_You know, he could be here tomorrow. Standing here and worrying isn't going to make him magically appear._

He'll be here. I know it. In my gut – which is why it's squirming so much – I can feel Sesshomaru getting closer and closer. Much like prey. Ever seen National Geographic or Discovery Channel? Not every doe or rabbit is eaten in one chomp. Most of them learn of the predator's intent with plenty of time to escape. Sometimes that's what the predator wants, I'm sure. The thrill of the hunt, to _earn_ its meal.

But this chase has been going on for weeks. And Sesshomaru is going in for the kill. And I _know_ he's coming.

The fluttering doesn't stop. I really should say something to Ama and Myou. I hardly considered what _they_ would do should Sesshomaru attack me. I managed to convince Okunote to keep them away but with but a _hum_ Ama could get away and come between Sesshomaru and I. Those with a strong will were somewhat immune to our Singing, but maybe in the frenzy of bloodlust she could keep him at bay long enough…

Who was I kidding?

I'd never let Ama come so close to Sesshomaru – _especially_ if he were in bloodlust. And what would happen if she managed to do anything to him? Would I attack him? Finish him off?

Could I kill two Lords in just as many months?

Could I kill Sesshomaru?

Would I?

I tasted blood in my mouth. That answer was painfully obvious, but it still stung with its truth. No, I couldn't kill Sesshomaru. And if I even _could_ I wouldn't.

_Not even if it came down to you and him?_

My instincts were rattled, learning you're a demon and spending that last two months in a completely topsy-turvy world will do that to them, but they weren't _hindered_. If I had to fight for my life I didn't doubt I wouldn't. I'd like to think I wouldn't kill Sesshomaru, even if I should. But I'm not so self-righteous as to claim I'd sacrifice myself before killing him.

Who am I kidding? I'm a monster just like all the rest of the Executioners.

Fabric swishing against polished marble, the heat of summer boring down on me, the dark and loathsome thoughts swimming about, more cartwheels in my stomach, blood in my mouth, and my hand won't stop shaking – I'm a right piece of work, I am. But my eyes do not stray from the West.

It is just as Ama is touching my wrist, her inner battle finally won, when I see him. It isn't a shape, nothing definite, but it is a speck in the distance that makes me inhale sharply. Makes Ama flinch away. Makes Myou suddenly stand at my side.

I stare at her astonished as she smiles. Her hand takes the one not shaking at the hilt of a silver blade before she turns back to the speck.

Myou is special.

Demons without defense mechanisms die – and they die fast. Without her Singing, Myou is simply another beautiful demon. But beauty doesn't get you far in this world. It _helps_ but it doesn't keep the air in your lungs.

There's a reason why Myou is still alive.

Her gold-green eyes close as she takes a deep breath. For a moment I cannot look away as an eye in the center of her forehead, the same gold-green as its twins opens. There hadn't even been a seam or a flap or anything to prove the eye's existence. I follow its trail of sight to the speck in the distance. For a long second everything goes still. The birds chirping gladly suddenly silences, the hot wind instantly dies, the soft sounds of the town and the castle fade away, and even the sights in my peripheral vision black-out until all I can see is the dark sharp far off into the distance.

The moment is broken when Myou staggers away with her hands drawn up to her face. Since she had been gripping me so tightly I go with her until her back hits the castle.

"Myou!" I take her wrists and try to pull them away. "Myou! Are you alright?" Ama is there too, petting her sister's hair and whispering into her ear. After a moment Myou does meet my eyes with her two normal ones. She looks outright terrified before she swallows and takes another calming breath.

She gestures, quick and agitated movements, like butterflies caught in a gale storm. It doesn't take long for me to figure out what she's saying.

It was Sesshomaru, and he had been looking right at me.

**WithTheRiver**

Maybe it had been too soon to decide to stop running?

I stood immediately and was rushed the paper doorway. Physically, I drew myself away as if Sesshomaru had been standing right there. The whiplash was so bad I fell on my back and gasped as if all the air had been knocked out of me. It _hurt_.

"Katsumi!" Ama gushed as she grasped my shoulder, no hesitation this time. "Katsumi, are you alright!"

There was that word again.

I shook my head and covered my face in shame. All that talk! I was still scared, still running like it was the only option. For a moment – only one and it was dreadfully drawn out – I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. It's been a while since I last cried, like the heart wrenching sobs that are almost cathartic.

And as the moment passed I realized I never cried about Sesshomaru turning on me. I never mourned for the loss of what we could have had, what he showed me was even possible.

But by then it was over and I couldn't very well lay here and sob like a child. So I shoved myself up and straightened my clothes and hair. Ama helped nervously. I patter her hand and smiled.

"It just jumped out at me all of a sudden." Excuses, excuses, and Ama wasn't buying it.

"We won't let you die, Katsumi." Her eyes were gleaming with hot tears. "If Lord Sesshomaru wishes to have you he will have to go through us first!" I felt Myou's fist clench in the fabric of my _kimono_.

I laughed. I couldn't even count on the Executioners back home to have my back. And suddenly these two fall into my lap and pledge allegiance to me. I laughed so hard some of those tears from before leaked out, but it didn't hurt and I wasn't so terrified anymore.

Of course there was a healthy dose of fear, wiggling at the back of my mind. But I stamped it down and put it in its place. _Don't let the fear control you._ Not sure if that was my demon parents or my human parents, not even sure if it was from somewhere else entirely, but the words soothed me nonetheless.

The courtyard would do for this…whatever it was going to be. Whether I'd die at the cobblestones or end up…well…not dying…the courtyard possessed style and I'd like to go out in style if I could. Okunote had seemed to pull himself together and sidled up as Ama, Myou and I make purposeful strides that way.

He was back into that careless, teasing mood of his, "I take it your mate is here?" I nodded, "I'll be sure to let him in." He didn't sound happy about it.

Before he left he muttered low enough for just the two of us, "Remember our deal, Lady Katsumi." And then he was gone, leaving me glaring hotly at the doors leading to the courtyard,

I turned sharply before Ama and Myou could follow, "Wait."

Ama huffed, "I already told you, you stubborn-"

Grinning and shook my head, "I'd like you two to keep out of sight for now. Sesshomaru doesn't know what I am and I'd rather he didn't know until absolutely necessary." Ama looked about to argue, but Myou took her sister's hand as her bright eyes pierced me. For a full minute none of us moved; Ama huffed again, breaking the tension.

"We'll be there," she pointed to an alcove that looked out to the courtyard. "Should it become '_absolutely necessary_' we will intervene."

I smiled and before I could second-guess myself I pulled them into a tight hug. They pulled me just as hard into the embrace and for a few seconds I realized this was what it was like to have siblings – to have _family_ that cared for your well-being first and foremost; people who would put their lives on the line to keep you safe instead of leaving you to take care of your mess. Something painful bloomed in my chest, like blood seeping from a wound, but I pulled away from them before I could ponder on the feeling for long.

**WithTheRiver**

There had been a time when I would have killed a human for provoking me. If they had come at me, I would not have hesitated to slice them in two, or three, or four. If they had thought they could enthrall me with a sweet whisper I would have severed their head from their shoulders and not thought twice about the mortal again. So long ago, I would have sneered at the very _thought_ that I would ever _need_ a human being in any means. I did not _need_ anyone.

There are moments in our lives, in our very long lives, that reshape us completely. Eternity in its vast greatness; the times, whether it is preordained or happenstance, change us. Then there are people that come along once or twice a millennia, the people that _stay_ with us during our very long lives. Very rarely do we allow ourselves to change. But I was told once that change is inevitable and there is no hope in fighting it.

If I had listened I would have saved myself a season of suffering, stalling the change, shoving it back as if it were an enemy. Change is no enemy, it is a dammed river and when the dam brakes there is little to be done than let the river reshape the earth and wait for the time when you build your dam somewhere else. Or let the river have its way.

Katsumi is my river.

The last few months tracking her down were a torment as the change she wrought crashed through me, reshaping me and leaving me no time to breathe or break away. After Kagura tossed her over the cliff as if she were nothing the world bled into a whirl of red and rage and…

It had been a long time since I allowed that part of me to run free. As if _I _was no better than a bloodthirsty animal!

The village of men, they were nothing more than an ant to a wolf and when, by the wisdom of their elder, I was told where to continue Katsumi's trail, only then was their village spared. They pray to their God I never come back.

When word came to me that she was in the East Lands, the world became red and rage once more. The dam broke. The river flowed freely, reshaping the earth.

And now, here she stands; an offering to the gods of old, her hair pulled back and up and away from a face that haunts my waking moments. Her hands grip the hilt of the wicked knives at her back – shaking, trembling. There is fear here, and I can't give a damn that I'm the cause of it.

The blue of her _kimono_ has me seeing red; the black boots that clad her little feet holds the rage at bay. The world dims and leaves but the two of us. Vaguely, instincts no doubt, I know there are two demons in the alcove above and the Lord of this castle is at my left. Yet, they do not matter. _She _is what reshapes the earth.

All I see is the river that blankets the world. Unrestrained, unmolested, stretching out to consume everything and touch everything as it had once before. To claim the world as if it were hers, and it is…or was…will be.

My mouth is dry, the claws break through the restraint just enough to elongate. Her hands grip her knives tighter, her body pulling inward, crouching, defending. Did she think I would hurt her? Will I?

Eyes, bright and hard and glittering, amethysts shining brightly in the night, narrow as I meet them. Fear. Distrust. Anger. Passion. Relief. Fear – it grips her heart and I can see it and I still cannot do a thing about it. I pull the _katana_ away for my own, a third and strange weight I left to remind me. Remind me. Of her, of my failure…of the river I tried to push back.

She pulls, physically taking a step back, her eyes flashing. The bane is not released from her sheaths; a good sign. Amethysts flick to the sword for a second before meeting my eyes and I cannot bring myself to hold back the intensity of my gaze. But in her eyes… Unease. Questions. Fear. Distrust. In another flourish the hilt points down to her.

_Come. Take it. _

_Take the weight._

But she doesn't move. The chains on the rage are breaking, I can feel more than the claws now, fangs and power and the world is focusing in on the little prey so close. She needs to move or else I will lose myself again.

Her subconscious answers my call. She takes three steps forward before she comes short.

"Sesshomaru…"

No! I cannot talk about this! I cannot have the demons so close to her. The river is raging and I am caught in its tide. I throw the sword high and she watches it, hand out stretched to catch it. And the second she does I have her wrapped up in my grip. There are words, flowing from her mouth, and there are others, the demons from the alcove and the Lord to my left.

But when the bane bits me I pull back on instinct, my grip fastened to her wrist, binding her, never letting her go – for I can't let her go. She has a small dagger out and held between us. Bright red blood drips from the wicked tip. The lovely knot she tied her hair back in was rumpled when I grabbed her, her eyes are too wide, her mouth open as she pants, and the hands holding her dagger are shaking. Pure, wild, prey. Beautiful and terrifying.

She is rolling and crashing through me, flooding me. Claiming the earth that was hers and is hers.

The violet fire in her eyes is blazing hot with frustration, anger, and on the edges fear.

Getting warmer.

"What are you doing?!" She cries. Indignation, as if I have the _gall_ to touch her! The weight of it pins the others at bay, the demons from above are a flutter of hair and robes and they do not appear much of a threat – except for the hatred burning in their depths when they look at me. And Okunote, the peacock, has no idea the power she wields. I do not like having them so close, to me or Katsumi, but she acts determined not to leave.

When she struggles away from my arm I tighten the hold, it hurts her. It should. Does she know what she did to me?

"Sesshomaru!" That dagger strikes out in snakelike quickness. I twist her arm, her body, until her back is pressed up against my chest and I have that overwhelming scent of the river crash through me. At this angle, the small blade clatters to the cobblestone. She should have used the longer, dueling knife. In retaliation a fist connects to my jaw, and I let her hit me because every time she does the fear seems to grow smaller and smaller. "What are you doing?"

That isn't important. There are too many eyes, too many watchful eyes. And one wrong move will destroy anything salvageable I can gather.

"Say something," she cries, desperate and pleading and she is struggling against my arm again and I know if I tighten it further I might break her. "Sesshomaru! Talk to me!"

"Say it," I counter, my body tensing as if expecting the next blow to hurt. Her body is stiff, it will shatter if I apply too much force, but I loom over her, pulling her closer. "_Say it!"_

As if I were the Nightingale, her lips trembles, "Say…"

"My name."

"Sesshomaru," her eyes light up in the dark. "What-"

But that's all I need. That dam broke. With a jerk and a twist, I kiss her wildly, madly, breathing her in as if I can consume her. Maybe then she won't leave. Maybe then I won't be alone. There is no kindness in the kiss; I can't bring myself to be gentle or kind. I can only take and beg. There is a small sound, a wounded sound.

She whimpers as her whole body shudders.

There is a moment in every creature's life when the time must come for change.

I pull away, letting her go as I do. She falls, all her weight had been on me. I take a step back against the howl inside me that doesn't want to let her go. I cannot let the beast have her. I cannot let the rage boil over and burn the river. And _she _has done this to me.

"Sesshomaru?" her voice is harsh, rough, as she pulls herself up. Her hands are shaking. Her legs are shaking.

"Katsumi," and her name alone is almost enough to break me. The words I meant to push her away with, the dam I was about to construct…Cowardice chokes me.

There is something warm at my cheek. The foolish woman closed the distance between us. "Sesshomaru? What's wrong?"

She came to me. Is it so wrong to blame this on her? I tried to push her away and she came to me.

"I need you." The words are ripped from me as if she pulled them out herself. "Katsumi, I need you in my life. To see you. To hold you. I cannot live without knowing you are close. I cannot…" Cowardice chokes me. The beast ripping at the cage, snarling and howling. My teeth ach, the power of what I am swallows the storm and laughs at it. But all the constructs, the dam I built to keep the rage at bay is cracking. The beast will be free and the man will drown.

Her eyes are so close; there is dark blue in the purple. "You wanted me dead the last time I saw you."

Ah, the fear, she thought I was going to kill her. Maybe I was. Maybe I was.

"I could never kill you, Katsumi." Demon magic or not, I would never kill her – _ever!_

But there is so much she doesn't understand. Maybe one day I will have her killed. Maybe she will kill me. Still, I no longer care.

Her eyes watch me, wary of the beast inside, before she speaks, "Do you mean it? Everything you said? Say it again, Sesshomaru! Make me believe you." So much anger, so much fear. The bane glitters in the sunlight. This fear is my doing. This anger is because of me.

I am no coward!

"I need you," I say again, taking her wrist and kissing the veins there. "I need you, Katsumi." Because without the river I am nothing.

Eyes wide she whispers, "Sesshomaru, what happened?"

Was it not obvious? _She _is responsible for it! How could she not know? But I wrap my arm around her waist, the knives sing a death's song in the back of my mind, but for now they are harmless. How could she do this to me then leave me alone to reap the consequences? What kind of witch was she? Her voice is insistent, _begging_ "Please, please, Sesshomaru…" because she does care, more than I do.

"You are _mine_, Katsumi. Half my soul goes with you wherever you go. Half my life. Half my mind. Half my heart is yours. When we are apart, I am only half a man."

It's hard to breathe so I hold her closer. That wild and strange scent: foreign metal and something sharp like spice, the unmistakable and universal hint of blood. It floods my scenes, crashes through me, washes away the pain in my chest. I can breathe easy when I breathe her in.

All because of what she is, what I have become.

The time has come for change.

Even in a creature's life as long as mine, the time always comes. And I was a fool to think I could keep it at bay. To think this woman could shape such change, to wield it and cast it. To think I would be overcome by this tiny, little thing. In the span of a heartbeat, I went from alone to suddenly, completely dependent on her.

And for so long I thought I content with the life I made.

Now, it burns and aches, to think I could ever go back to that.

Slender hands caress my scalp, comb through my hair. She is sure of her movements – no hesitation, no fear. I kiss her neck, dragging my lips up the column to her hair line and to the shell of her ear. Soft sounds, my name among them, cut through the roaring of the beast. A warm body pressed against mine. Urgent lips at my neck, my jaw, my chin, and she is raining her marks on my face. The river, reshaping the earth. It claims the world that was once it's to roam, never truly taken away, always owning the world and waiting patiently for the dam to break.

"Sesshomaru," the voice is stronger, surer, no more fear there. "What happened?"

So insistent. "You are my mate, Katsumi."

She shook her head as she pulls back to watch me. "But it was a lie. I mean…we did decide…but we didn't have time…"

"What more would time have done for us? You pledged your soul to mine, accepting me and my offer." Indeed, bonds were a contract, in shrewd terms. Was she expecting some sort of ritual? A ceremony that melded our souls into one?

If she but asked for it…

"But…back at the cave, when the bands were removed…"

"I will never hurt you, Katsumi!" Would it be my penance? For blocking the river and denying change, for her to remind me that I was out for her blood? Hands pressed against my face. Violet eyes flicked from eye to eye as she watched me. She knew. I would deny her nothing. "You are my mate, Katsumi, the other half of my soul."

"Just like that?" She had muttered the words as if dumbfounded.

"What more would you have?" Was it not enough? Was I not enough? Had I ruined her confidence in me when I turned my rage on her? If she but asked for anything…

With a kiss, a soft kiss, the press of her lips upon mine, she smiled, "You have no idea what I've been through. First, I thought you were going to kill me. Then, I forgot about you completely. Then, I meet some old friends of the family, _walked_ to the other side of the island, made a deal with the East Lord, and _waited_ for you to show up!"

I raised an eyebrow at her outburst – a slow build up, the river bubbling in anticipation.

"Suddenly, as if nothing happened, you are telling me you're not here to kill me, that we are, in fact, _married_ and you expect everything to be…_fine_?"

Sneering I said, "What more would you have?

"Have I not sworn I would never kill you? Have I not explained that your soul and mine are forever entwined?"

"The fact that I am here," she gestures around her and in the process manages to put unwanted space between us, "that I haven't slept in _days_ without _you _haunting my nightmares, is all because of you!"

The rage is there; the world is turning red.

"And now you think everything will be…_fine_?" I don't know what to think, but telling her that will not help.

"What more would you have? Name your price." I would gladly pay it. But the words tumble in a sneer – the _gall _of this woman!

She flinches back as if by a strike. "My _price_," she spits the words at me. "You have no shame, Sesshomaru." I let her put the distance between us as she likes.

The world stands still as I wait for her to speak, say _something – anything!_ Simply ask and I would give. Finally she says, "Swear to me,"

"Have I not-"

"Sesshomaru!" I am spelled silent, "no, do not swear, beg me to forgive you."

There is no hesitation. So long ago I would have denied her, maybe hit her for such insolence – and if I were truly honest the man I was before would have no doubt _killed_ her for such a vulgar price. But if this is her price, I would gladly pay it a hundred times over. There is no stopping change once it sets in. You can either deny it, as I have, or run from it.

Never let it be said that I am a coward.

"Katsumi," I kneel, because if I am to beg it will be done properly. "Forgive me. Forgive me for turning my rage upon you, for letting you go, for not being with you and helping you when you needed it." The weight of her eyes is too much, so I stare at the dragonboots. The same as my first gift to her. "_Please_, Katsumi, forgive me of my rage."

It is as if I cannot _breathe _under her gaze. The tension, the rage, the howling beast, it is a weight I can no longer bear alone – it wasn't meant to be carried alone.

For so long she is silent, I fear the worst – and it is most disturbing she can do this to me.

When her hand touches my arm, just under my shoulder of my left arm – my lost arm – I can breathe again, I can seek her eyes and I can take the weight of my burden, but I cannot yet stand.

She leans forward, her nose brushing mine once. "Alright."

I stand, taking her in my arms and kissing her fiercely all at the same time. There is a flutter of movement from the Lord. We will have to share words at another time. And the two demons from the alcove are suddenly hovering a little too close for my comfort. But Katsumi's hand is at my neck, the other gripping what's left of my lost arm, and there is a wild, abandon frenzy when she kisses me back.

No matter the tribulations, no matter what dark forces come our way, I will not lose her again.

The river will flow freely as it sees fit, reshaping the world as it determines. Never again will I try to stop it or control it, but to simply have it fill every void as it should.

**Because I have reached half-a-century's worth of fanfiction, I think it's time I lay out this little nugget: I want a cover art for this story! I noticed Fanfiction let it be that some stories can have a cover art, and although I'm not 100% sure how it works, I MUST HAVE ONE!**

**So here's the deal: Create a sample art, a sketch or whatever, of the cover art and send me a PM of it. I will pick the top three – if we have that many – to fight to the death by completing their works and paying attention to any specific details I have in mind for it.**

**Yay me! **

**Or, at least only if this doesn't turn out into a huge flop and no one actually **_**cares **_**about cover art. In that case I am alone and without artistic talent of my own I will be forced to **_**describe **_**how I think my cover art would look like. In which case you, my readers, would be forced to read about cover art instead of seeing cover art. **

**Now, let's all do each other a favor here and just help me! Thank you!**

**REVIEW! And a few things I'd like feedback on specifically are the Title – I seriously struggled with this one – and of course your feelings about The Reunion, and some speculation about what you think might be in store for our two love birds. **

**Also, I got some heat from a friend who said they didn't like that I took the story away from Kagome and Inuyasha…Would y'all mind telling me what you think about it? Is it wrong what I did according to some fandom rules?**

**And…if there's anything else, please PM me!**


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